Book 5 - Film Noir
by GailDunn2
Summary: The tribunal continues, and its conclusion will have far-reaching consequences for everyone involved. God decides to conduct an experiment: What would the lives of Sam, Dean, Castiel, Gail, Crowley and others be like if history was changed? Should this new world stand?


BOOK 5 - FILM NOIR

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER"

Gail fought to compose herself as she took comfort from Sam's hug.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked her. "Where's Cas?"

"It's a long story," she answered. She pulled out of Sam's embrace. "I see you were just about to eat. Go ahead, while I tell you what's been going on. Though you may not have much of an appetite in a minute."

Gail drew a chair up to the table and as the brothers started to eat, she saw that Dean was having a hard time picking up his burger. He had a thick bandage on his left hand, and she remembered that Jason had stabbed Dean there.

"Do you have any scissors here?" Gail asked Sam.

"Should be some in the drawer," he said around a mouthful of food. He stood up, but she waved him back down. "I'll get them," Gail said. She knew which drawer he'd been talking about; she'd helped Sam make a number of meals here in the past.

Dean dropped his burger back onto the plate and grabbed his bandaged hand. "Son of a bitch," he said. "Hurts like hell."

Gail came back to the table holding the scissors and sat beside Dean. "Here, give me your hand," she said to him. He looked at her, then he remembered what she was. "Oh, yeah. Right," he said.

She snipped the adhesive tape with the scissors and grabbed one end. "This is going to hurt," she warned him, "but only for a moment, and then I'll be able to fix you up."

Gail ripped off the bandage in one quick motion. "Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled, but Gail had already grabbed his hand in both of hers and a moment later, his hand was healed.

Dean looked at it, flexed a couple of times, and smiled. "Thanks, Gail," he said, then picked up his burger and took a couple of wolfish bites.

Sam grinned. "We could have used you a couple of times on the road," he said to Gail.

She couldn't smile back. Her healing of Dean's hand brought back the memory of Cas healing her stab wound in the Vancouver emergency room and even though she had not enjoyed the experience of being attacked, it was a nice memory. There had been many of those kinds of moments she'd like to re-live, but now was not the time to lose herself in them. She had to help Cas now. But how?

"What's going on, Gail?" Dean asked her.

She sighed, and moved back to her own chair, looking at both brothers sadly. "The tribunal, that's what's going on. And it's not going very well." She paused. Where did she start?

"After Cas sent you guys out of the motel room, we gave ourselves up to Jason," she told them.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Dean said angrily.

"We had our reasons," Gail replied, and as Dean opened his mouth to speak again, she held her hand up. "And before you say anything, that's not an 'Angel answer', it's just...there were a few things involved. Mainly, we realized we couldn't just run away from the problem. Jason was never going to quit. But it's been pretty brutal, you guys. They put us both in jail, and the only reason I'm out now is that Cas had gone and done something incredibly noble, and incredibly stupid."

Then she told them about Castiel's bargain with Xavier; he would plead guilty to all charges if she were to be released from the capital charge of murder. "I still have to show up for my Count 7 charge tomorrow morning, but they released me from jail, anyway."

"Count 7?" Sam asked.

"That's the morals thing, remember? 'Thou shalt not'...well, you know," Gail said. She would have smiled under other circumstances. "But that's not important. We have to figure out a way to help Cas."

Dean frowned, pushing his plate away. She'd been right, he no longer had an appetite. Just how the hell were they supposed to do that?

Gail explained how the tribunal's Counts were based on the Ten Commandments as they'd been originally recorded. "Xavier produced this mysterious Affidavit for Count 1. I have no idea what it says, or who it was from. He said the Signator wanted to remain confidential for fear of retaliation from Cas."

"Who would do that?" Sam asked, puzzled. He remembered the First Commandment: "'Thou shalt have no other Gods before me'," Sam quoted. "What are they trying to allege?"

"They're trying to say that Cas put you guys, and I guess humans in general, before God's wishes when he rebelled against Heaven," Gail replied. She gave them a tight smile. "We even kind of joked about it at the time. But they weren't even going to let him see what was in the Affidavit until Chuck piped up that Cas was entitled to at least have a look at it."

"Chuck?" Dean said, startled.

Gail was nodding. "I know it's hard to believe, but Chuck's actually turned out to be one of our biggest allies. He and Kevin have been trying to drum up support for Cas with the other Angels, and I guess they've been reading up on Heaven's laws in the library. It's really quite different there," she said wryly, looking at Sam. "No defense, no due process, just Xavier, picking him apart."

"Isn't there anything in these laws that Cas can use?" Sam asked Gail.

She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him no, but then Gail stopped herself. They hadn't really even had a chance to try to find out. She had an idea.

"Good question," she said to Sam. "Hang on, I'll be right back." Then she disappeared.

Gail reappeared in Heaven's library, startling Chuck and Kevin, who'd been sitting there glumly, commiserating over the day's events.

"Is there anyone else in here?" Gail asked Chuck.

He stared at her in amazement. "How did you get out of jail?" he asked.

"Never mind about that," she said. "It's OK, I didn't escape, Xavier let me out. But I need to talk to you, and there isn't much time."

"There's nobody else here," Kevin told her.

"Good. Can you lock up?" Gail asked Chuck.

He moved quickly to lock the door, and when Chuck came back, she said, "I need all the books you guys have on the tribunal process."

Chuck made a face. "There's just the one. Apparently, there have been so few of them since ancient times that we just have the records of the last few."

"And there's a really old book that's got a section on the ancient code to be used in the proceeding," Kevin added. "We didn't get all the way through it, though. It's written in old Enochian, and the translation is slow going."

"Can you give me the materials, and any notes you may have?" she asked them. "I want Sam to take a look. Maybe he can see something there that'll help us."

Chuck bent down and retrieved the books and Kevin's notes from a shelf underneath the front desk. "By all means," he said to Gail. "Sam's a smart guy. Maybe he'll see something we missed."

Gail took the materials from Chuck and smiled.

"What?" he said mildly.

"I just can't get over the change in you, Chuck," she replied. "You and Kevin," she looked at Kevin, including him, "have both been such good friends to us."

"I just wish we could do more," Chuck said fervently.

Gail laughed, but without much humour. "Yeah," she said, "honestly, we could use all the help we can get right now."

"Today was kind of...intense," Kevin said.

"I know," she agreed. "But we have to help Cas any way that we can. I hope you guys know there's a lot more to him than Xavier's been presenting. He made some bad choices in the past, but he's changed, he really has. He's not the monster they're making him out to be."

"We know that, Gail," Kevin said, "and we've been trying to tell the other Angels that. But it's hard convincing them when all they're hearing is the bad stuff he's done in the past."

Gail sighed. "Don't I know it. I just wish they could all see him for the Angel he is now."

Chuck smiled. "We'll keep trying, Gail. I hope Sam can find something in there that helps."

"Me too, Chuck." Gail put her hand on his arm. "Thanks again. Well, I'd better go. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"We'll be there," Kevin said, smiling at her. "Say hi to Sam and Dean for us."

Gail winked back into the bunker and handed the books and Kevin's notes to Sam. "Would you mind having a look at these?" she asked him. "See if there's anything you can find in there that'll help Cas defend himself."

Sam looked at her quizzically. "Where'd you get this stuff?" he asked, examining the books.

"Heaven's library," she replied. "And they'd better be back by morning, I'd hate to think of the late fee."

Sam smiled and sat down at the table, already studying the materials. Gail watched him for a moment, then turned away. She'd better leave him to it, let him concentrate.

Dean rose from his chair, perhaps thinking the same thing. "Let's talk," he said to Gail. He took her arm and steered her to the couch by the fireplace.

"How bad is it, Gail?" Dean said as they sat down.

"Really bad, Dean," she replied. "They mean to put him to death."

Crap, Dean thought. Just when he thought they'd sunk as low as they could go, those damn Angels never ceased to amaze him. "You can't let him do it," Dean said to her.

"And just how do you suggest I stop him?" Gail retorted. "I swear I'll try, Dean. As soon as I see him tomorrow, I'm going to tell him I don't want him to do it. But do you really think that'll work?"

Dean sighed. No, he didn't. They both knew Cas too well to hope that he would change his mind.

"Can we break him out somehow?" Dean asked. "Metatron got out, didn't he?"

Gail looked at him, startled. Could they? But she didn't see how. Maybe, just maybe, she could get into the jail to see Cas, but what would they do after that? The place was covered in sigils, and Sam and Dean were stuck here on Earth. She knew there had been a portal there when Metatron had escaped, but she didn't know if it was still there, or where it was. And would he even agree to go? And if he did, what would they do? Go back to Vancouver? Start that all over again? But then they'd be back to square one, with Jason and his men coming after Sam and Dean. As appealing as getting Castiel out of prison might sound, that probably wasn't the answer.

"Let's just leave that on the back burner for now," she said to Dean. "If things get desperate enough, we'll talk. But we need a better solution. Maybe Sam will find something that will help."

Sam had been perusing the books and Kevin's notes in the meantime. He'd become adept at reading certain ancient languages, but Sam's knowledge of Enochian was very limited. He had studied law in college, though, and Sam was reviewing the transcripts of past tribunals. He was astonished to see how the hearings were conducted. They were decidedly one-sided affairs, with Xavier pushing through all kinds of "evidence" and the board just accepting his recommendations. There wasn't one tribunal that was recorded here that hadn't resulted in a lengthy prison sentence, or worse. Two Angels had received death sentences, and their sentences had been carried out within the week. Apparently, Heaven wasn't too big on the appeals process. The Counts were always 10 in number, based on the Ten Commandments, and the board's standards were impossibly high. The most perfect Angel couldn't possibly hope to emerge from a tribunal unscathed, not the way that Xavier twisted the facts and skewed the evidence. And Cas was far from perfect; they all knew that. He'd be hung on Count 6 alone, mitigating factors or not.

But Sam did uncover something interesting. There was a clause in the ancient code that stated that any member of the Upper Echelon board was allowed to question any witness at any time.

"Gail!" Sam called.

She and Dean walked over to the table. "Did you find something?" she asked eagerly.

Sam looked up at her. "Isn't Cas a member of the Upper Echelon board?" he asked, recalling the meeting Cas had attended with Bobby when they'd come back from Vegas.

"Yes, he is," she responded. "Why do you ask?"

Sam told her and Dean about the clause he had just read, and Gail was astonished. "If that's what it says, he was totally entitled to ask Raphael some questions!" she exclaimed.

"Raphael? What are you talking about?" Dean asked her.

Oh. Right. In her haste to get the material for Sam, Gail hadn't told them about that part. So she told them about Raphael's shocking appearance, his testimony, and the fact that Xavier had not permitted Castiel to question Raphael.

"Well, then, Xavier is breaking the ancient code," Sam said. "You need to tell Cas about this."

Gail was fuming. She was sure Xavier knew about this, but had deliberately ignored it, figuring that Cas would know nothing about it. And nobody on the board had said anything about it, either. What the hell was going on? Did they want to get rid of him so badly that they were willing to throw the rulebook out the window?

"Oh, believe me, I will," Gail said. "But I don't know if it'll make any difference! Raphael is gone now, and Xavier doesn't give a damn about what's fair, he just wants to be God!" She wished she had something to throw. It was just so frustrating.

Sam sat back in his chair. He let out a deep breath. What a mess. He wished he could attend this so-called tribunal. Maybe smack Xavier in the head with his old pre-law book, while he was at it.

Dean was thinking along the same lines, minus the part about the pre-law book. He needed to kick some ass on Cas's behalf, but there was nothing that he and Sam could do from here. And just where the hell had Bobby gone to, anyway? He and Sam had racked their brains, trying to think of any reasonable explanation for Bobby's disappearance, and they couldn't think of anything that made sense. He wasn't the type of man to just disappear, and he'd been God when he'd disappeared. They'd wondered if he had been killed, or abducted, but if he had God's powers, how could that be possible?

"Have you heard anything about Bobby up there?" Dean asked Gail now.

"No," she replied, a little startled by his question. She'd been so preoccupied with her and Castiel's problems that she hadn't thought about Bobby in a while. Where was he? "Nobody's mentioned him at all. It's almost like he never existed."

"Could Xavier have done something to Bobby to get him out of the way?" Sam speculated aloud.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Gail replied. "Look what he's doing to Cas. But Bobby is God, or at least he was. He'd be the most powerful Angel there is. I don't see how that would even be possible."

The three of them were silent for a moment. Gail sighed. Now she felt worried about Bobby, too. But Castiel had to be her main focus now.

"I'm gonna look at this stuff a bit more," Sam told her. "Want your old room back for tonight?"

"Sure, Sam, thanks," Gail said absently. She didn't really think she was going to use it much, though. She didn't sleep now anyway, and she was so upset and nervous about Cas she'd probably just pace the floor all night.

Thinking of "her" room reminded Gail of her picture, and she realized it was still stashed down the front of her pants. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten. She took it out then and looked at it.

Dean was watching her and he quipped, "Really, Gail?"

"Shut up, Dean," she said automatically, and then looked at him. She appreciated his effort to cheer her up by resorting to their usual banter, but the exchange was half-hearted. She knew he was worried about Cas too, and frustrated because there wasn't anything he could do. Gail was going back there in the morning, and she didn't even know what she could do. Plus, tomorrow was her big day. Xavier was going to put her back on the stand, and Lord only knew what he was going to ask her.

Come to think of it, maybe she did have a use for the room after all. "Do you guys mind if I have a bit of alone time?" Gail said. Without waiting for an answer, she walked down the hall to the room she'd stayed in when she'd first met the brothers. An awful lot had happened to all of them since she'd spent her first night here as a human, and when Gail entered the room and closed the door behind her, the memories came flooding back.

She walked over to the nightstand and propped up her picture against the lamp. The ritual was familiar, but there was no comfort to it. Gail loved Sam and Dean dearly, but she and Cas should be here together, and the four of them should be talking and laughing, sharing road stories.

Gail remembered back to that time in Crowley's den, when her brother Frank had killed Castiel. She'd been able to bring him back to life then, but that had been a miracle, owing to her extra powers and what she now strongly suspected had been a big assist from God. But there were no Gods right now, only Xavier. Heaven was going to execute Castiel, and there wasn't a damn thing that she or the Winchesters could do about it. And she herself might be headed for a prison term after tomorrow. Would she even be allowed to see Castiel then, or would they just kill him and tell her about it later? Would she ever see Sam and Dean again, or Bobby?

Gail slipped off the bed and went down on her knees. She bowed her head and started to pray. "Please, Father. I'm begging you. If you ever loved your Son, if you love him now, please help him. I know about his past, but so do you. If someone needs to be punished here, please make it me. I don't care how long I go to prison for, if you just let him live." She looked up at the photo for a moment, tears blurring her eyes, then bowed her head again. "If you think our living together is wrong, or if we're doing anything to displease you, I promise I'll do whatever it takes. If you want me to move out, I will. Whatever you want. Please. Please."

That was all she could say, and that was all she could do. After a moment, Gail raised her head to look at her picture once more, and she was startled to see a white feather on the nightstand. That hadn't been there when she'd looked a moment ago. Was this a sign of some sort? Then she remembered the white dove that had flown in their apartment window in Vancouver and perched on the TV. She and Cas had been arguing, and then suddenly the bird had appeared, and they were laughing. Could the white feather she saw now be connected with that? What did it mean?

God had indeed heard Gail's desperate prayer, and He'd sent her the feather as a sign, figuring she'd make the connection. He felt sympathy for His children, and the time had nearly arrived for Him to intervene. Gail had to go through the ordeal of testifying tomorrow, and once she had, He would finally step in, arranging a dramatic entrance. God was giving Xavier enough rope to hang himself, and by the end of Gail's testimony tomorrow, Xavier would have revealed himself to those who mattered. God knew that Gail was dreading tomorrow, but He for one couldn't wait.

Sam knocked on Gail's door a few hours later. "Are you OK, Gail?" he called through the closed door.

She'd been laying on the bed with her photo in one hand and the white feather clutched in the other. God had to have been behind it; she just wasn't sure exactly what He'd been trying to tell her. But she was encouraged by the notion that He'd heard her prayer. She'd just have to trust that He had a plan.

When Sam knocked, she jumped off the bed and opened the door. "I'm fine, Sam, just having some quiet time to think," she told him.

"I just had a flashback to the first night we met," he said, smiling.

"I know, I had one earlier," Gail said. "It's incredible, isn't it? So much has happened, good and bad. And yet here I am, in trouble again." She smiled ruefully. "I'm surprised you and Dean haven't kicked me out by now."

"Never," he said, pulling her in for a hug. After a moment, he said, "Besides, we lock the door, but you keep popping in, anyway."

Gail laughed against his chest. God, please look after Sam and Dean, she thought. No matter what happens to us. They're two of your best.

Sam pulled out of the embrace. "I just wanted to check on you, and to tell you I'm sorry, but I couldn't find anything else in those books or in Kevin's notes that might help." He frowned. "Sorry, Gail."

"That's OK, thanks for trying, Sam. And I'll be sure to pass along what you did find to Cas tomorrow. And I assume I can give him your love, as well." She smiled. "That, I'll be glad to do. I'm going up on morals charges, anyway. Might as well make it worth my while."

Sam studied her face. She'd been so miserable a few hours ago, and now she seemed almost cheerful; it was weird. Then he noticed the white feather in her hand. "What's that?" he asked her.

"This?" Gail said, twirling it in her hand. "Hope, Sam. I think it's hope."

Early in the morning, Gail found some paper and a pen and wrote a note for the brothers, telling them to think good thoughts, and she'd try to contact them soon. If she wasn't back in jail, she thought, but she didn't write that. There was no point in making them worry any more than they were already worrying. She was doing enough of that for all of them.

Then she gathered up the books and Kevin's notes from the table and put her photo and the white feather under the front cover of the top book, and vanished from the bunker.

Gail's first stop was the library. She was happy to see that Chuck was already there. She'd wanted to get the books back to him and tell him what Sam had found.

Chuck was outraged. "So Cas has been entitled to ask questions this whole time?"

"Yeah," Gail responded. "Now, mind you, there's only been one witness so far besides Cas himself, but still, he wanted to ask Raphael some questions and Xavier told him he wasn't allowed!"

Chuck was rubbing his hands together, agitated. "Can I tell Kevin this?" he asked her.

"Sure, I don't see why not," Gail replied. "I'm headed over to the prison now to see if I can get in to see Cas before the hearing and tell him. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned. We need to expose Xavier for the liar he is."

Chuck nodded. "I'll spread the word to anybody who'll listen, and I'll tell Kevin to do the same." He paused. "So they're picking up at Count 7 today?"

"Yeah." Gail sighed. "I expect to be back on the hotseat, making excuses for pretty much everything I've done since childhood."

Chuck patted her arm. "Just remember you and Cas have friends. Keep your chin up. Compared to the crap I've pulled, you have nothing to be ashamed of," he told her.

She laughed shortly. "I kind of doubt Xavier will see it that way, but thanks anyway, Chuck." Gail opened the top book and took out her photo and the white feather. "OK, off I go. Wish me luck."

"I do," Chuck smiled, "Say hi to Cas for us, and wish him luck from us, too."

They smiled at each other and then Gail left the library, twirling the white feather in her hand. If she and Chuck could be friends now after all the animosity in the past, couldn't other situations improve, too? The feather she held symbolized hope, and she wanted to show it to Cas, share the hope with him. She had the feeling he could use some right about now.

Gail was certainly right about that. Castiel had spent the previous night pacing his cell, worrying about the next day's proceeding. Xavier had left him after their apparent arrangement, but Castiel had no idea if he could trust Xavier to honour it. And, the first charge to be dealt with tomorrow would be Count 7, which was the one against Gail that Xavier had refused to drop. Now that Castiel had advised Xavier that he would plead guilty to all of the Counts if she were to be excused from Count 6, he hoped that Xavier would honour what Castiel thought was part of the agreement, and not compel her to testify. He knew it was him that Xavier had really wanted, and now that Castiel was giving himself up to save Gail, he hadn't seen why Gail should be put on the stand at all. Maybe he should talk to her before the day's session, advise her to plead guilty also in case Xavier went back on his word.

He knew she would be extremely angry with him, to say the least, for making his bargain with Xavier. But Castiel's mind was made up. After all of the things he had done in the past, he needed to perform this one last act of atonement. Gail was finally going to be freed of his baggage, at least symbolically. Then, after she'd served her term in prison, she would be literally free to live out the rest of her existence. Though with Xavier in charge, Castiel couldn't envision what her life would be like. Would Xavier allow her to go back to Earth to be with the Winchesters? That would be Cas's ideal scenario; he knew that Sam and Dean would be good to her, and they would do their utmost to protect her. He wished he had had more time to give her additional training; he would just have to hope that the brothers would take over in that regard. Cas doubted he'd ever see Sam and Dean again himself, and he bitterly regretted that he would never have the chance to say goodbye to them and tell them how much they'd meant to him. He hoped they knew. Cas found he couldn't even remember what the last words he'd shared with the brothers were. Considering the crisis situation they'd been in with Jason and his men, it was probably some Angel crap, he thought ruefully. Had he ever even told them that he loved them? He vowed that if he were ever to see Sam and Dean again, if that miracle were to occur, he would tell them that. He didn't care what they said or how they reacted, it needed to be said.

And as for Gail...Cas sighed. How could he ever say goodbye to her? It was going to break his heart to have to leave her, especially this way. He'd spent most of the night making his peace with his impending death, but he knew that Gail would never be the same after he was gone. He'd prayed to his Father about it. Just in case you're listening, my Father, please look after her for me, and Sam and Dean, too. I'm sorry I let you down in the end. My best obviously wasn't good enough.

Xavier's hand wavered over the black phone. He supposed he had to live up to the second part of the bargain he had made, but he was having a hard time making himself do it. How was he going to justify bringing Metatron back up to Heaven to the rest of the board? Yes, Xavier would be God shortly, but he couldn't afford to alienate the Upper Echelon either, not if he hoped to lead effectively. But he'd had an idea. Maybe he could tell them that Metatron was here to provide them with intel on the inner workings of Hell, sell them on his value as a close former associate of Crowley's.

Xavier picked up the phone, and Crowley answered.

"So, today's the big day, I take it?" Crowley asked. He'd heard about yesterday's proceeding last night from Xavier, and it sounded like things were going swimmingly. Crowley had been somewhat impressed with the speed of the proceeding. Considering the extent of Castiel's wrongdoings, Crowley had expected the hearing to take at least a week. But Xavier had advised he expected the proceeding to be concluded today. Xavier had not mentioned Castiel's offer to plead guilty to Crowley, though. Frankly, it was none of his business, anyway. And soon Xavier would be God, and he would be directly opposite the King of Hell. He wanted Crowley to think of him as a force to be reckoned with.

"Yes, we will have him convicted today," Xavier told Crowley. "Then his death sentence will be carried out by the end of this week."

Sweet music to Crowley's ears. He had a grudging respect for Xavier now. Even Crowley himself had never been able to kill Castiel, although he had really tried.

Xavier took a deep breath, then released it. "You can bring Metatron to the arranged meeting place now," he told Crowley. Might as well get this over with.

Now Crowley was very happy. He would be only too glad to deliver Metatron to Xavier. He was sick and tired of the smarmy little bastard. Let him become Xavier's headache now.

So it was done, and Metatron was standing in God's office with Xavier. He was back to full Grace now, and he was an Original, so Metatron had been able to ascend with no problem. But he had to be hidden away for the moment.

There was only one place that Xavier could stash Metatron in Heaven without detection: in the alcove that held the vial with God's powers in it. The room was small, but it had every protection known to Heaven and Hell, even more protection than the Winchesters' bunker. Any Angel within its walls would be undetectable from any type of being, even an Original. Even God Himself. Inexplicably, God had designed it to be so. Only God or an Original could open the door to the alcove, and release of the vial could only be achieved by scanning the hands of two Originals on the panel of the cabinet that held the vial. Now that he had Metatron back in the stable, Xavier need only to drag Castiel to the alcove and force him to join together with Metatron to open the cabinet. It was on Xavier's To Do list once the tribunal was concluded. Then he would be free to put Castiel to death, and Xavier would have the vial with God's powers.

As Metatron's presence in the alcove could not be detected by anyone, Xavier took him there now, assuring him that it would only be temporary. Metatron wasn't bothered; he was back now, and he had all the time in the world.

Ethan was sitting at the front desk when Gail entered the prison wing.

"Good morning," she said to him. Ethan looked up, momentarily startled. But he really shouldn't have been surprised. Xavier had released her last night, and she was probably here now to visit Castiel ahead of the hearing. He'd seen the two of them sitting together in the hearing room; Ethan figured she wouldn't be able to stay away. But it was early in the morning, and he was here alone. Should he let her see him? Was it within his authority to say yes or no?

"Good morning," Ethan said cautiously.

"I know it's early, but could I please go in and see Castiel for a few minutes?" Gail said sweetly. She could see him eyeing her, having a debate with himself. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Ethan," he replied.

Gail smiled at him. She'd noticed Ethan in the gallery at the hearing, talking to Chuck and Kevin. He was obviously part of Heaven's law enforcement team, but Ethan was young, probably a recent addition to Heaven. Maybe he would have a bit more of an open mind if he had been a human not so long ago.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Ethan?" Gail said.

"Sure, I guess," he replied.

She paused. "Have you ever been in love?"

Ethan frowned, but he knew what she was getting at. She'd obviously seen his uncertainty about letting her in, and was trying to appeal to him on an emotional level. Smart of her.

Ethan sighed. "Yeah. When I got shot in the line of duty and ended up here, I was planning on proposing to my girlfriend. She'd just had our first baby. I never got a chance to be a husband, or a father," he said sadly.

"I'm so sorry," Gail said sincerely. "Were you a police officer?"

Ethan nodded. "I was a rookie, but I loved the job. Helping people, you know? Getting rid of the bad guys." He smiled ruefully. "But I wasn't quick enough that day. I was shot trying to protect a pregnant woman from her abusive boyfriend. I should have waited for my partner, but I guess I was thinking of my girlfriend when I rushed the guy. He was holding a gun on her, and when I attacked him, he shot me. I never even got the chance to find out if she made it OK."

Wow. This was a good guy, Gail thought. He'd been dealt a bad hand on Earth, and so had his girlfriend and their child. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said again. "I prefer to think that you saved her, and she went on to have a happy, healthy baby. Who knows, maybe that kid will grow up to discover a cure for cancer, or something. And as for your baby, I'm sure his or her mother will make sure they know what a hero Daddy was." She smiled.

"His," Ethan replied, smiling. "It was a boy."

"Hopefully he'll grow up to be just like his Dad," Gail said.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that any more," Ethan said, frowning. He looked around, then looked back at her, lowering his voice. "I guess they picked me to do this job because I was a cop, but I'm not so sure this is the place for me."

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

Ethan lowered his voice even further. "Because I'm not sure that everyone who's in here belongs here."

Gail's heart leaped. Here was another glimmer of hope.

"I think you're right, Ethan," she said, but left it at that. She didn't want to push it.

He regarded her for another moment, then stood. "I'll take you to see him."

"Thank you, Ethan," she breathed.

"What are those things you're holding?" he asked Gail as they walked down the hall. He could see what they were, of course; he was just curious, making conversation.

She held up the photo and the feather for him to look at. "This is a picture of me and Castiel in Las Vegas," Gail told Ethan. She made a face. "You'll be hearing about that today, I'm sure. In fact, I'm afraid you'll be seeing me back here on the other side of the bars once Xavier gets through with me."

Ethan stopped walking and looked at her. "Why?"

Gail hesitated. Ethan seemed like a nice young guy, but he was a stranger to her. Did she really want to go there with him? Then she decided it didn't matter. Everyone was going to hear the sordid details in a couple of hours anyway.

"Because Count 7 is the morals charge. Castiel and I stayed in the same room in Las Vegas, and we didn't just hold hands."

Ethan was taken aback by that. Weren't all Angels celibate?

"There were special circumstances," Gail continued. "You'll hear all about it. But the charge is based on an interpretation of the Seventh Commandment that allegedly forbids sex outside the bonds of marriage."

Ethan looked at her, puzzled. "But if that's what they're basing it on, I should be in jail, too. Karen and I weren't married when we had our son."

Gail nodded. "I guess you're grandfathered, so to speak. But if Xavier has his way, that'll soon change."

Now Ethan was mad. Where the hell did Xavier get off, imposing his own outdated morality on people? He and Karen had planned to get married once he was a bit more established in his job and they'd been using birth control. Their son had just been a happy accident.

"So you think he won't let anybody who...anybody like me into Heaven once he becomes God?" Ethan said to her.

"That's exactly what we think. Castiel has known Xavier for many years, and that's what he told me. And after meeting Xavier, I can completely believe it. And not only that, but Castiel says he'll refuse to admit gay people, too."

OK, that was it, as far as Ethan was concerned. His brother was gay, and he'd been hoping to be reunited with him here in the future. "That's not right," he fumed.

"That's what we believe, too," Gail assured him. "And I know that Bobby would have been OK with it, like Castiel is. But Bobby's gone, and Xavier is aiming to kill Castiel so he can be God." She said nothing further, letting that thought linger in Ethan's mind.

They continued walking, and Ethan was thinking about what she'd said. What the hell was going on here? This was supposed to be Heaven, and they were supposed to be Angels. Yet Xavier was running the tribunal like it was the Spanish Inquisition, and he seemed way too eager to nail Castiel and Gail to the cross. Ethan had been wondering about a few of the other inmates here, as he had alluded to Gail earlier. There were several Angels who were serving long terms as a result of other tribunal hearings that Xavier had conducted in the years before Ethan had gotten here. Ethan had just taken their guilt for granted, though they seemed like good individuals. But as he'd been witnessing the goings-on at Castiel's tribunal, specifically the manner in which it was being conducted, Ethan was becoming less and less convinced that he was on the right side. Maybe Chuck and Kevin were right. They had been trying to convince him that Castiel was a good Angel now, who had just made mistakes in the past, and that Xavier was the bad guy here. Were they right?

They arrived at Castiel's cell, and Cas looked up when he heard Ethan unlocking the door. He leaped off the bunk when he saw that it was Gail, and she rushed into the cell. They met in the middle, embracing each other fiercely.

"I'll leave you two alone," Ethan said, smiling. He turned to leave, then turned back. "Gail, I'll have to come and get you in about an hour. Jason will be here to escort Castiel to the hearing, and I'm not sure he should find you here."

Gail pulled out of the embrace long enough to look back and smile at him. "I understand," she said. "Thank you, Ethan. This means the world to me."

He nodded to her and Castiel, then headed off down the hall.

Gail turned back to Cas and looked at him, arching her eyebrow. "So I understand I have you to thank for my freedom," she said.

Cas sighed. Here it came.

Sure enough, she pulled away from his arms. "What the hell did you do?"

"I did what I had to do, Gail," he said uncomfortably. "Aurielle advised the board was going to impose the death penalty on you under Count 6. I couldn't take that chance. So I gave Xavier what he wanted in exchange for dropping that charge against you."

"Aurielle?" Gail was confused.

"Yes, she came here last night, bringing the Affidavit copy," Castiel told Gail, indicating the document on the end of the bunk.

"Really?" Gail should have known. "And what else did she say?"

Castiel sighed. "She claimed that there was some sort of evidence against you that would be produced today," he said, then smiled wryly. "She said something about my being under your spell."

"Oh, and she's a reliable source," Gail scoffed. "Same stuff, different place. Wasn't I supposed to have been involved in some grand conspiracy against you before? How is it you're still here, then? I've had plenty of chances to do you in by now." She smiled in spite of herself.

But Castiel did not smile. "She touched my face, Gail. And then I finally understood. I told her to get out."

Gail nodded. "Good. This face is mine," she teased. Then Gail touched his face, and then Cas did smile. He'd never realized what a sweet and imtimate gesture of hers that was before, not until the revulsion he'd felt when Aurielle had done it.

"Yes, it is," Cas agreed, "and the rest of me too, for whatever that's worth. For however long that may be."

Which brought them back to the original point of contention. But their time here would be all too brief, and Gail didn't want to spend it being angry with him. So she extended her photo and the feather to him.

"I want you to put these in your pocket today," she said. "For luck."

He looked at her curiously, then took the objects from her hands. Cas smiled warmly at the photo. He'd gladly hold it for her. He put it in the pocket of his shirt, the one that was next to his heart, of course. Then he looked at the feather, and back at her inquiringly.

"I think that belongs in there as well," she said, smiling. She told him about the sudden appearance of the feather, and the circumstances under which it had shown up.

Castiel remembered the white dove too, and he allowed himself to feel a surge of hope. This had to be a sign from their Father. He didn't know what it meant either, but he was used to these cryptic signals from God by now and he was sure that they would find out before too long.

But they had to get through today, first. So he took Gail's hand and led her over to the bunk, sitting her down. After a moment's consideration, he slid the feather into the same pocket as the photo and patted the pocket, then sat down next to her, reclaiming her hand.

"I was thinking," Castiel said slowly, not wanting to anger her again, "maybe you should consider pleading guilty to Count 7 this morning. That way, Xavier can't put you on the stand, should he so choose."

Gail was silent. Maybe he had a point there. But she wasn't the issue at the moment, Cas was. She sighed. "What does it matter?" she said to him.

Castiel looked surprised. "I should think that would be obvious. You've experienced that chair now, and you've seen what Xavier is like. I don't want you to have to go through that."

She was angry again now; she couldn't help it. "And yet you're OK with me having to live after they put you to death," she fired back. But she didn't remove her hand from his; they had so little time left.

"Better me than you," he stated grimly.

They stared at each other for a moment. Gail could see that she wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it, and her anger dissolved into sadness. She'd thought the white feather had symbolized hope. Then why was it that all she felt now was despair?

"I think I'll testify," she said bitterly. "If I'm going down, maybe I'll be able to get a few shots in on Xavier before I go."

Castiel sighed again. He should have figured as much. In a lot of ways, she was as stubborn as he was. So he did the only thing he could do; he reached out and took her in his arms.

They stayed there like that until Ethan came to get Gail before the hearing. Not wanting to get the young guard in trouble, Gail rose immediately. Castiel rose, too, and said, "Thank you, Ethan." Gail touched Castiel's face and he kissed the palm of her hand. "I'll see you in a bit," Cas said to her, trying to smile. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and left with Ethan.

It was only when she got out of the prison wing that Gail realized she'd forgotten to tell Castiel what Sam had uncovered. Damn! She wasn't really sure that it mattered any more, considering what he was about to do, but she figured she'd better tell him anyway. So she headed directly to the corridor outside the hearing room to wait for him there. Hopefully, they could have a moment before the proceeding.

Jason arrived at the prison shortly after Gail left, and Ethan looked at him speculatively as they walked down the hall to Castiel's cell. Truthfully, Ethan had thought that Jason was a bit of a dick when he'd first been introduced to him. Ethan had had a few supervisors like Jason on Earth, guys who got so puffed up with their power and perceived authority over others that they had become bullies. And Jason was Xavier's friend and right-hand man. After his talk with Gail, Ethan was starting to look at things in a new way, and he was watching Jason closely.

Castiel was standing at the front of his cell, waiting. After a glance at the Affidavit on his bunk, he'd decided to pick it up and bring it with him. He'd flipped through the pages and given them a cursory glance last night, but his heart hadn't really been in it. Though he still wondered who the mysterious Signator to the Affidavit had been, Cas realized it didn't really matter any more. But he'd bring it into the hearing room. Maybe Gail would want to look at it.

Ethan opened the cell door and Castiel started to step out, but Jason put a hand on his chest. "Hold it," he barked. "You know the drill."

Castiel sighed. He gripped the Affidavit document in one hand and raised his arms, letting Jason frisk him. Jason was a little rougher than he needed to be, in Ethan's opinion. And once Jason was done, he smirked. "I can't wait to hear your girlfriend's testimony today," he taunted Castiel. "Xavier's got some very interesting questions lined up for her. We may have to ask some of the younger Angels to leave the gallery."

Cas's heart sank, but he did not rise to the bait. He and Xavier had an agreement; Jason was just trying to rile him up. But Ethan was fuming. He knew what Jason was alluding to due to his chat with Gail earlier, and Ethan thought that Jason's comments were crude and unnecessary. When Gail had left the jail this morning, Ethan had had a few minutes alone to think, and he'd thought that she was actually pretty nice. He could see how much in love she and Castiel were, and Ethan wondered why Xavier felt it necessary to prosecute them on a morals beef at all. Ethan still wasn't sure how he felt about the other charges against Castiel, and the testimony he'd heard had sounded pretty damning, but he was starting to think that there might be more grey to this situation than black and white.

Jason grabbed Castiel by the arm then and began hustling him down the hallway. "Let's go," he said. "I don't want to miss a minute." Ethan hurried alongside them and opened his mouth to speak to Jason, tell him to cool it, but Castiel saw and gave Ethan a brief shake of his head. He didn't want the young guard to incur Jason's wrath on his behalf, not after he'd been so good as to bring Gail to see him this morning. So Ethan said nothing, but he continued to fume as he followed them to the hearing room. His shift was done for the morning, and Ethan himself was eager to get a seat in the gallery. Maybe he'd sit with Chuck and Kevin and have a chat with the Prophets, hear their side of things. Ethan felt he might be ready to listen now.

Castiel and Jason were coming down the hallway, and Gail rushed up to meet them.

"Well, if it isn't the fallen Angel herself," Jason said sarcastically. Having seen no one on the way to the hearing room, he had held his grip on Castiel's arm the whole time, and had kept up a running commentary on the day's proceeding. Cas had summoned up all the will power he had not to react, knowing that Jason was just trying to get to him. But by the time they'd reached where Gail was waiting, Cas had had it. "Shut up," he barked at Jason, as Gail was rolling her eyes at Jason's comment.

Jason grinned. He had finally gotten a rise out of Castiel. Truth be told, even though Jason had been enjoying the sight of his former associate being humbled by Xavier, Jason missed the warrior Castiel, and he had been needling him hoping to provoke another confrontation.

But Gail put her hand on Castiel's other arm and said, "Never mind. You know what he's trying to do."

Cas nodded. He knew. But she was right; there would be nothing to be gained by engaging with Jason now, at least not strategically. He continued to glare at Jason, though. What he wouldn't give to have his blade right now.

"I need to talk to you," Gail said to Castiel. "There's something I forgot to tell you...before," she finished, mindful of Jason's presence.

"What's that?" he asked her.

Gail looked at Jason. "Can you give us a moment in private?" she asked him.

Jason threw back his head and laughed. "Good one," he said. "I don't think so."

"Oh, what do you care?" she snapped at him. "You guys are getting what you want, aren't you?"

Jason approached Gail and stared down at her. "Not until Xavier takes care of you both," he said coolly.

He had intended to intimidate her, but the move backfired, and now Gail began to lose her own temper. She'd been so afraid of today, but now she realized that compared to what they wanted to do to Castiel, her concerns were petty. So she'd be embarrassed if she went on the stand, so what? She had basically spelled out what had happened between her and Castiel in Las Vegas earlier to young Ethan, who was a stranger to her, and he hadn't seemed to care that much. So, some other Angels she didn't know would be shocked. Was that really the end of the world? After everything she had been through since she'd first met Castiel and the Winchesters, and everything Heaven was putting them through now?

So she looked up at Jason and rolled her eyes again. "Whatever, Jason," Gail said to him, shaking her head at her own foolishness. "I'm not afraid of Xavier, and I'm not afraid of you."

Castiel tensed as Jason moved closer to Gail, but Jason merely leaned down and said, "You should be." He smiled and then moved away from her, standing beside Castiel again, ignoring Castiel's glare. "Let's go, you two," Jason said. "Don't want to keep the fans waiting."

Cas took Gail's hand and squeezed it briefly in encouragement, but now she was feeling apprehensive again. Was Jason just trying to keep her on edge, or did he know something she didn't?

But it was too late to worry about that now. She and Cas walked to their table and sat down. She leaned in to him and said, "I almost forgot to tell you. I had Sam look at the tribunal rules last night and he told me that any Upper Echelon Angel can question any witness at any time. So Xavier lied when he said you weren't allowed to ask Raphael any questions."

Castiel looked at her, startled. "Sam said that?"

Gail nodded, but then the board was filing into the room and Ignatius was banging the gavel, calling for silence. Then Xavier stood and said, "As to the matter of Count 7, I call the Angel Gail to the stand."

Gail settled into the witness chair as Xavier picked up a file folder and approached her slowly. She glanced up at the gallery and saw Chuck give her a thumbs-up. He was sitting with Kevin, Ethan and Becky, and they were all smiling at her. Gail gave them a tight smile in return.

Then she looked towards Xavier's table, but Gail could feel Aurielle's and Jason's eyes on her, and she definitely didn't want to look at either of their faces right now, so she looked at Castiel. His expression was blank, unreadable; maybe he was still thinking about the fact that he should have been able to question Raphael. She'd picked one hell of a time to tell him that, hadn't she?

Xavier had taken his sweet time, but he finally stood in front of her. He checked the front page of the file he held in his hand and gave her a wide, fake smile.

Gail did not smile, but she looked him in the eyes, trying to appear calm. Let's go, already, she thought.

But then Xavier turned his back on her and looked at Castiel, making a gesture with his hands. "Well, Brother?" Xavier said.

Cas looked back at him, startled out of his reverie. "Well, what?"

"Don't you have something you wanted to say?" Xavier asked him. Xavier thought that Castiel would have jumped up by now to make his guilty plea, to save his little girlfriend from what Xavier was about to subject her to.

"I had thought you would have spoken first," Castiel said to him. Then he nodded towards Gail on the stand, dropping his voice. "We had an agreement, Xavier."

"Only on Count 6, and only in principle," Xavier retorted, dropping his voice also. "I told you Count 7 will stand. We'll see what she has to say first, before I decide."

"You were going to drop Count 6, and you were not going to compel her to testify," Castiel said through his teeth.

"About that? I changed my mind," Xavier replied, with a thin-lipped smile. Truthfully, he'd never intended to agree to keep Gail off the witness stand, which had been the second request Castiel had made. If Castiel thought he was getting her off scot-free, he was sadly mistaken. Xavier wanted to expose Gail for the type of "Angel" she really was.

Castiel's eyes flashed. Xavier was reneging on the deal!

"Don't worry, Brother, her life will probably be spared. Probably," Xavier said sardonically. "After we hear her life story, that will be up to the board to decide." He turned his back on Castiel and walked towards Gail, who was still sitting there waiting, a puzzled look on her face.

After Castiel and Xavier had lowered their voices, she had not heard that part of the exchange. Had Castiel changed his mind about pleading guilty? Her heart surged. She'd sit here all day long answering questions if that was the case.

Castiel's glare bored holes in Xavier's back. He hadn't changed his mind about pleading guilty, but he'd needed Xavier to announce out loud that he was dropping the Count 6 charge against Gail first, and not only had Xavier not done that, now he was saying they'd wait and see after she testified. Castiel had been under the impression that their agreement of last night had included both components, including absolving Gail from testifying. Hadn't it? His mind raced, reviewing their conversation, but he realized that Xavier had never expressly stated that he would not call her to the stand. It seemed that Xavier was bound and determined to humiliate Gail in public. Or was there more to it than that? He'd spoken about hearing her "life story". What did he mean by that?

Earlier in the morning, Aurielle had been getting together the paperwork at her desk for today's proceeding. She'd been so excited about seeing Gail put on the stand to confess her misdeeds that she could barely contain herself.

Aurielle had remained in deep denial after her brief visit with Castiel in his cell. He was obviously still in the throes of whatever spell Gail had cast on him. That was why he had behaved so rudely to Aurielle and sent her away. But she would forgive him. Castiel was a victim, and he hadn't known what he was saying.

She took the spell book out of the bottom drawer of her desk and laid it on top of the documents. Xavier would probably want to produce it as evidence, show it to the board as proof of Gail's sorcery.

Just then, Xavier walked in and saw the spell book sitting on Aurielle's desk. "What are you doing with that?" he asked her sharply.

Aurielle was puzzled. "I thought you would want to bring it into the hearing as evidence," she said.

Now Xavier was puzzled. "Evidence?" he asked her. "What does that unholy book have to do with the proceeding?"

She was dismayed. Only everything, she thought. "Aren't you going to use it against the Angel Gail? It's her book, isn't it?" she said.

Now Xavier saw the misunderstanding. She obviously hadn't examined the book very closely. "No, it's not," he replied. "That's an unrelated matter. Put it away for now."

Aurielle's heart sank, but she did as he requested. She'd really thought the book belonged to Gail. How else to explain the hold she had over Castiel?

Gail was looking at Castiel now, watching him glare at Xavier. She was happy to see that; maybe he had decided to fight for himself after all. And she resolved she would try to fight for him, too. Whatever Xavier asked her, she was going to try to turn it around, tell everyone in the room how good Castiel was now, and how good he had been to her.

"You were a human when you met Castiel, were you not?" Xavier asked her.

"Yes," Gail answered.

"And you had some unusual abilities for a human, didn't you?"

"Yes," Gail answered again. She did not elaborate. Let him do the work. What exactly was he getting at? she wondered.

Xavier continued to stare at her. "And what were they?"

Gail sighed. "I could read people's intent by touching them, and I could heal."

"Where did these powers originate from?" Xavier asked.

Gail's brow furrowed. "From God, I would imagine."

"From God," Xavier repeated. He turned around to look at the gallery. "From God," he said again, the sarcasm heavy in his voice.

"They must have," Gail retorted, "as I was able to heal Castiel with them on the first night we met."

She looked at Castiel and he smiled at her. Their first good memory together.

But Xavier was not smiling. He wheeled back around to face her. "Really? And how was that possible? How exactly did you accomplish this cure?"

"Which question would you like me to answer?" Gail countered tartly.

Xavier glared at her. "All of them."

"OK," Gail said. "Yes, really. I don't know how it was possible, I can only put it down to a miracle. Castiel was almost out of Grace, and I gave him a drink of water that I had prepared for him. Once he drank it, he had his full Grace back."

"You 'prepared' a drink of water that was able to restore an Angel's Grace?" Xavier said incredulously. "And what was the method?"

Gail winced inwardly. She'd been hoping never to have to say it out loud. "I opened up an abrasion I had on my face and let some of my blood drip into the water, then gave the water to Castiel to drink."

She peeked at the gallery, where there had been a couple of audible gasps. This sounded like witchcraft to some of the older Angels. Gail heard Aurielle snort in derision, throwing her hands up in the air as if to say See? I told you. Aurielle looked at Castiel then, but Castiel's gaze was focused on Gail. Gail risked a look at him then, but he was still smiling. Phew. Gail had been a little worried that the actual mechanics of the cure might disgust him. That was why she had never told him about it. But the main thing was that it had worked.

Xavier paused a moment, then said, "But these mysterious powers, wherever they came from, were attractive to others, weren't they? Is it true that the King of Hell recruited you for his own purposes?"

"He didn't 'recruit' me, he kidnapped me," Gail snapped, her temper rising. She wasn't going to let him get away with that. "And he killed my brother."

"My condolences on your loss," Xavier said hollowly. He smiled thinly. "But we'll get back to that in a minute."

Crap. Did Xavier know about Frank, and where he was now? He must, Gail thought, although she had no idea how he would know. There must be a grapevine here in Heaven, and Xavier had tapped into it. If he were to bring that up, Gail would explain that Frank's downfall had been all Crowley's doing. Heaven couldn't hold what had happened to her brother or the fact that he was now a Demon against her, could they? It wasn't her fault. And what did all this have to do with Count 7, anyway?

As if reading her mind, Xavier said, "Is it true that you and Castiel almost succumbed to the sin of Lust in the Winchester home?"

Gail looked at him sharply. How could he possibly know about that? She looked at Castiel, whose mouth had dropped open in shock.

She was compelled to answer, but at least Gail had an explanation. "Yes, but we were under the spell of the Seven Sins, cast by the witch Rowena. And nothing happened," she said firmly.

Xavier nodded. "Fair enough," he said. "But I wouldn't say that nothing happened, would you? Did you not then leave the Winchester home and go into service for Crowley?"

"Once again, I was abducted by Crowley," she said testily. "I did not go voluntarily." But a sense of dread was washing over Gail now. How did he know about that moment between her and Castiel in her room? They had never mentioned that to Sam and Dean, and no one else had been there. Now he was talking about Crowley. Was he trying to imply that she was evil somehow?

"Be that as it may, you killed for Crowley, didn't you?" Xavier thundered. "A child, wasn't it?"

Gail's eyes grew wide. OK, there was no way Xavier should know about that. The only ones who knew about that, the most horrible moment of her life, were herself, Sam, Dean, Castiel, and the Demons who had been in the den that day, and Rowena and Crowley himself. But the chair compelled her to answer the question. She looked helplessly at Castiel, but he was in shock, slowly shaking his head from side to side. He was obviously thinking the same thing.

"Yes, I killed for Crowley." The words were forced out of her mouth. "Yes, I killed a child." A louder gasp from the gallery, and the murmur of Angels talking.

Ignatius rapped his gavel. "Silence!" he shouted. Then he looked down at Gail. "Why would you have done that for him?" Ignatius asked her, disgust in his voice.

Gail looked up at him. "He injected me with Demon blood," she answered, tears starting to form in her eyes. She knew how this sounded. "It changed me, made me do things I would never..." She trailed off, her voice choked with emotion. How could she possibly explain? Even though the child she had killed had turned out to be a Demon, the memory would haunt her for the rest of her days. But how...it suddenly dawned on her.

Gail turned back to Xavier. "You've been talking to Crowley," she said to him.

Another uproar from the gallery, and another gavel rap from Ignatius.

"How dare you?" Alexander shouted from the dais. He and the rest of the board were outraged by Gail's statement. How dare she suggest that Xavier would talk to the King of Hell?

"What did you say to me?" Xavier asked her, feigning outrage also.

"You heard me," Gail retorted. "Besides Sam and Dean Winchester and Castiel and myself, he is the only one alive who was present for that..." she floundered "...occasion," she finished lamely.

Then she saw Castiel suddenly rise to his feet. "You HAVE been talking to Crowley," he said to Xavier. "He and Rowena were watching Gail and myself in the witch's enchanted mirror while we were under the influence of the spell. There is no other way you could have known about that."

Xavier's mouth opened, then closed again. He wanted to tell them both to shut up, but he realized he'd just made a serious error. In his zeal to paint Gail as a former mistress of Crowley's, he hadn't realized that they would pick up on the fact that he could only have gotten this inside information from the King of Hell himself. Time to appeal to his fellow board members.

"Brother Ignatius, I would ask you to remind these Angels who is being examined here," Xavier said, conveying what he hoped was the proper tone of righteous indignation. "I am deeply offended by what they are trying to suggest."

Ignatius rapped his gavel again. "Sit down, Castiel. Your outrageous allegation is offensive, and will not be tolerated."

Castiel pounded his fist on the table in frustration. "Xavier is lying!" he shouted.

"Sit down, or we will have you removed," Ignatius said sternly.

Castiel's eyes were blazing, but he realized he'd better force himself to calm down somehow. Even as angry as he was, he couldn't let them take him out of the room. Not when Gail needed him for support. She was sitting there, wide-eyed and vulnerable, as Xavier was attempting to portray her as a willing disciple of Crowley's. He slowly sank back into his chair, wishing she had just pled guilty as he had suggested.

Xavier looked back at Gail. "So you had Demon blood in you, and you were killing for Crowley?" he reiterated. He wanted to bring things back on track, keep the focus where it should be.

"Yes," Gail said bitterly. "But Castiel and the Winchesters cured me, and I reverted back to my normal self."

"Did you?" Xavier said. "Then why did you return voluntarily to Crowley after the alleged cure?"

"Because my guilt for what I'd done overwhelmed me," Gail replied in a more subdued tone. "I felt I didn't deserve to be with anyone as good as Castiel."

Xavier laughed shortly, but did not comment.

"Then what happened?" he asked her.

"Then Sam and Dean and Castiel came to Crowley's den to rescue me, and then the Winchesters and I died there," Gail replied. Funny that she could say it so matter-of-factly now. "God gave us all the choice, and I chose to become an Angel." She sat back. There. It was a very abbreviated version, but it was true. Surely if the board and all the Angels present knew that God had thought she was good enough to be an Angel, they wouldn't think too badly of her, she hoped.

Xavier shook his head slowly. He knew he couldn't say anything against God for fear of blasphemy, but he wanted to get one last shot in. "Bold choice," he said sardonically.

A couple of the Angels in the gallery laughed at that, and Gail's head drooped. Apparently, the witness chair also had the power to make whoever sat in it reexamine themselves. Whatever had made her think that she was fit to be an Angel? After the stuff she had pulled in Crowley's den, involuntary as it might have been? Even now, she felt more human than Angel; she always had. And why had she chosen to be an Angel in the first place? She'd told herself at the time that her reasons were altruistic, that she wanted to help people, atone for her misdeeds. But honestly, hadn't it been much simpler and much more selfish than that?

"I wanted to be with Castiel," she blurted out.

"What?" Xavier said. "Could you say that again? I'm not sure we all heard you."

Gail raised her head. "I wanted to be with Castiel," she repeated. "That's why I chose to become an Angel."

Silence in the room. Gail wanted to look at Castiel but she wasn't sure she should. He would be disappointed in her. He thought she was so good, but she knew she wasn't. She was selfish, she always had been, and she'd taken advantage of God's largesse to be with the guy she'd fallen in love with. Wow. How pathetic.

Xavier was smiling. "Brother Ignatius, I would respectfully suggest that we take the morning recess now. There is much more ground to cover." He wanted to break on that note. Xavier felt that Gail was really revealing herself to be the type of Angel he'd thought she was: scheming, selfish, and only too willing to become intimate with men in order to use them. Crowley had told Xavier about the physical contact he and Gail had shared while Gail had been in his service, and he had added that the two of them would likely have been married had she not died and moved on to Castiel. And while Xavier couldn't introduce these confidences into evidence without truly exposing his collaboration with Crowley, they had disgusted Xavier. How dare Gail walk around Heaven as if she belonged there when she had been one accident away from being the Queen of Hell?

Crowley had embellished his account, of course, as was his wont. He'd relished the shocked look on Xavier's face, and he wanted to cast Gail in the worst possible light. It still stung a small part of him that she had chosen to leave him after he'd treated her so well, would have given her anything she had ever wanted. But she had wanted Castiel. Well, she could have him, for the brief amount of time they had remaining. Crowley told himself he no longer cared.

Ignatius rapped the gavel. "Recess called."

The board members filed into the chambers room behind the dais, and Xavier quickly followed. He thought the session was going very well so far, but he wanted to make sure there had been no residual effects stemming from Castiel and Gail's outbursts. Ignatius and Alexander had defended him in public, but Xavier was ready to do some damage control if necessary.

"So you see what kind of woman she is," Xavier told them.

"I understand you're trying to establish character," Daniel said, "but why bring up her association with Crowley?" Xavier gave her an incredulous look, but he continued. "As repugnant as it is, she was a human at the time, and was forced to serve him against her will. And she demonstrated remorse."

Xavier couldn't believe what he was hearing. Daniel was defending her?

"Well, I think it's disgusting," Alexander said. "I cannot understand how she was allowed to become an Angel after that."

That was more like it, Xavier thought. He was itching to tell them how apparently close to being Crowley's bride Gail had come, but he had to restrain himself. There was no way he could ever explain having such inside knowledge. Besides, there was something he had to disclose to his fellow board members, and he'd better get to it before Castiel decided to open his mouth again.

"Last night, Castiel asked to meet with me," Xavier told them.

"What? Why?" Gregory said, startled.

"He advised that he was willing to plead guilty to all of the charges against him if I dropped the Count 6 charge against the Angel Gail, and I agreed," Xavier said, bracing himself.

Sure enough, Lanister said, "She killed my son!"

"I know, Brother Lanister," Xavier said, "and that is why I'm examining her so closely now. I think you can agree that what we've heard so far is shocking, and there is more to come. She is still under charge for Count 7, and you - " he looked around the table, encompassing all 5 board members with his gaze " - still have the authority to impose whatever sentence you deem fit."

Ignatius thought he understood what Xavier was getting at. "Are you suggesting that we impose the death penalty on her for a simple morals charge?" he asked incredulously. Truthfully, he thought that was a lot for Xavier to ask. He would never say this out loud, but he'd frankly been moved by Gail's story, and by Gail and Castiel's obvious love for one another. Gail reminded him a bit of his daughter Felicia, or what Felicia could have been if she had not disgraced him by falling in love with a human. But he would not let those feelings sway him from doing what was right. He would wait for further testimony before making up his mind about Gail.

Lanister was somewhat mollified by what Xavier had said. Nothing was going to bring his son back, but he was ready to vote the death penalty for Gail right now. Not just in revenge for his son, which would bhe the wrong motivation, but because she was a questionable Angel, at best. He had seen the insolent manner with which she had treated his Brother Xavier. Imagine, she was accusing Xavier of dealing with Crowley, when Gail herself had done who knows what kind of unholy things for and with the King of Hell?! And she must have infected Brother Castiel with her poison via the sickening "cure" she had given him. Sounded like witchcraft to him.

Daniel was more inclined to keep an open mind. He would wait to see what other evidence Xavier had to offer. He would most likely go along with the majority when it came time to vote, though. Daniel was not very decisive when it came to these matters, preferring to leave the decisions to others who had stronger convictions.

Alexander was hardline, perhaps even more so than Xavier himself. He was ready to convict right now, and the death penalty for both Castiel and Gail seemed like a good idea to him. They clearly had no respect for Heaven's rules and institutions. Look at how they had behaved towards the esteemed Brother, Archangel Raphael. The sooner they were gone, the better.

Finally, there was Gregory. He was well and truly on the fence. He too was of the opinion that he needed more information before making a decision.

Xavier had planted the seed, and none of the board members had questioned him about the allegations regarding Crowley. His job was done here. As he exited the chambers room and walked back to his table in the hearing room, Xavier looked at Castiel and smiled. He hadn't reneged on his agreement, he thought, but he hadn't said anything about waiving the death penalty for Count 7, had he?

Castiel saw Xavier's smile and it worried him. Was he just pleased with himself over what he had elicited from Gail so far, or was there more to it than that? What had gone on in the chambers room?

But he couldn't worry about that right now. Gail was back in her seat beside him for the break, and she was crying, her head bowed. She hadn't looked him in the eye since she'd come back here. He knew what the witness chair did, having been through the same process himself the day before. It made you question everything you'd done and everything you were. It removed all hope.

Cas took the picture of them and the white feather from his pocket and grabbed her hands, pressing the items into them. "These," he said to her, "these are what's real. Anything else doesn't matter."

Gail raised her eyes to look at him. "I thought so, too," she said. "Now I'm wondering if they're the illusion."

It hurt his heart to hear her talk like that. "Am I an illusion?" he asked her.

She laughed shortly. "Maybe. Maybe you are."

He wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her. It didn't matter to him that the witness chair had given Gail the notion that she had decided to become an Angel just to be with him. He knew better. She was a good person who bad things had happened to, yet she persevered. She had helped that homeless man in the alleyway. She had sided with Bobby and had extended her forgiveness to Chuck, and she had been right. And she had come back here with him to be by his side, knowing what they'd be facing, to take a stand against Xavier and his Draconian rule of Heaven. There was much more altruism in Gail than she was giving herself credit for.

"Listen to me," he said to Gail, touching her face. He wanted to extend the same gesture to her that she had extended to him numerous times, a sweet gesture that had always comforted and calmed him. "I'm not an illusion," he continued. "We're not an illusion. This is not an illusion," he said, touching the photo.

Her eyes searched his, but she said nothing.

Cas leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "I loved you from the beginning, and I love you now. Must be a hell of a long-lasting spell you cast on me." Then he smiled.

She looked at him disbelievingly. Has he just used her own go-to tactic on her? No wonder she used it; it worked. She felt herself begin to smile.

Gail kissed the palm of his hand. If they were going to reverse roles, they might as well go all the way. And speaking of which..."You know what's coming up after the break, right?" she asked him.

Cas nodded. He knew.

"Do you think if I get really graphic, Xavier could have that stroke we were hoping for?" Gail quipped.

Cas threw his head back and laughed. He was glad he had shared that thought with her back in their apartment. He'd known she would appreciate it. She was back to herself now, and he was happy to see it. He took the picture and feather gently from her hands and put them back in his pocket. "For safekeeping," he told her.

But then everyone was coming back into the room, and Ignatius was rapping his gavel.

"If you start to feel bad, just look at me and remember what I said," Castiel said to Gail. She smiled at him gratefully. Then Xavier was calling her back to the stand. Before she stood, Gail kissed Cas on the mouth and held the kiss for a moment. Hey, if she was going to be exposed as a wanton woman, she might as well act the part, Gail thought. She did love him, so much.

"Is it true that one of the first things Castiel taught you how to do once you became an Angel was how to fight?" Xavier asked her. "How to kill?"

Gail sighed. Here they went again. Everything Xavier asked was framed with the intent of making her look as bad as possible. But she had to tell the truth.

"Yes," she said, "although it was mostly Sam and Dean who trained me."

"Oh, that's right," Xavier said. "Castiel was busy here in Heaven at the time, helping Metatron to escape."

"Are you asking me questions here, or making your closing statement?" Gail snapped. She was losing her temper again, and she'd only been up here for a few seconds. She was aware how bad it made her look to the board every time she fired back at him that way, but she couldn't seem to help herself. How could they let him get away with this crap? She looked at Castiel and incredibly, he was smiling.

Cas appreciated Gail's spirit; he always had. And it was sweet of her to try to defend him like she was doing. Of course, he also realized that every time she spoke to Xavier with such disrespect, she was just digging herself into a deeper hole with the board. They were hardliners, and as such, they had specific views on a female's place, and that place didn't include speaking out so strongly. There were no female Upper Echelon members for a reason. If Castiel had been willing to have taken the High Office when God had offered it to him, that status would have changed. It was about time.

"Fine," Xavier replied testily. She was trying his patience. He had to step back and look at the big picture, though. Soon he would be God, and this girl would be gone.

He decided to change tactics, throw her off-balance. "Is it true that you and Castiel have co-habited ever since you became an Angel?" he asked her.

"Yes, we lived in the same apartment," she responded. "Two bedrooms." It was true.

"And you stayed in the same motel room when you went around with the humans?" Xavier persisted.

"Yes," Gail said, then added, "Two beds." She wasn't going to make it that easy for him. Besides, they were Angels, and nothing had been going on at that point, nor since they got back from Las Vegas. She was sure that delicate subject would be coming up shortly, but until then, he was going to go on his fishing expedition, but she was damned if she was going to give him a net.

"What happened to your brother after Crowley killed him?" Xavier asked casually.

Gail was off-balance now, as Xavier had intended. That question had come out of the blue, especially on the heels of his previous line of questioning.

"Sam and Dean buried him behind the bunker," she replied, feeling the usual pang she felt when discussing Frank.

"And then?" Xavier prompted.

"And then we found out later that Crowley dug up his bones and made him into a Demon," Gail said sadly.

"And not just any Demon, am I right?" Xavier said.

Gail glared at Xavier. Once again, she knew he must have been getting all this information from Crowley himself. But, though she had accused him of this, and so had Castiel, the board had stuck up for Xavier, and they didn't seem to care.

But Chuck did, and he had had enough. "How could he possibly know that?" Chuck called out.

"Yeah," Kevin chipped in. "How does he know so much about what goes on in Hell?"

Xavier didn't turn around to face the gallery this time. He looked at the board and said, "I have my sources. I am the acting God, after all."

Ignatius rapped his gavel once. "No more outbursts from the gallery. You've already been warned."

Chuck and Kevin looked at each other in frustration. They had taken their cue from Gail and Castiel earlier, and this was getting fishier by the moment. Couldn't the board see that their aspiring leader was in bed with Crowley? That had to be the explanation. Yes, Cas had done some bad things in the past, and apparently so had Gail, but this was the present, and Xavier was the bad guy now. They had to find a way to convince their fellow Angels that he was the threat, not Cas and Gail.

Gail was compelled to answer the question on the table. "Crowley made Frank a Knight of Hell," she said bitterly.

"And where is your brother now?"

"Still in Hell," she replied shortly. She hated Xavier at this moment. Gail didn't care if they were both Angels, she could happily have killed Xavier right now if someone handed her a blade. He was using Frank's unfortunate status to make her look bad, and it wasn't fair. What had happened to Frank was the most painful thing in her existence, and Xavier was pushing the button hard, just as he'd done to Castiel in the meeting when he'd made insinuations about her.

"So, you're 'closely involved' with Castiel, an Angel who aspires to the High Office, and your brother is a Demon in the service of the King of Hell. Does that about sum it up?" Xavier asked sarcastically.

"Oh, so you're still clinging to the premise that this is a hearing to determine my fitness for the High Office?" Castiel said suddenly. He was livid. He knew what a sore spot Frank's situation was for Gail, and he did not see the point in Xavier's bringing it up now. The subject had nothing to do with Count 7, and Xavier knew it. Gail could be descended from a family of Demons; it was her morality, and by extension his own, that was supposed to be addressed under the charge. She bore no responsibility for the ills that had befallen her brother. Gail had even killed her brother when push had come to shove, at great sacrifice to her emotionally.

"Do I have to warn you again, Castiel?" Ignatius admonished him. But truthfully, he was wondering the same thing; what did this line of questioning have to do with Count 7?

"Move it along, Brother Xavier," Ignatius said, sparing Gail from having to answer the question. She was relieved; she'd had no idea how to answer that question truthfully, there was just so much wrong with it.

Xavier frowned, but did as Ignatius asked. But he thought he'd try to sneak in some bonus material.

"Has Castiel told you about his past?" Xavier asked Gail. "And have you forgiven him?"

"Yes, and yes," she said firmly, looking at Castiel. He gave her another smile. "And what does this have to do with anything, now?" Gail added. Ooh, she wished she could get Xavier to sit here, let Cas ask HIM a few questions for a change. Like, just how close were he and Crowley, anyway?

"I agree," Daniel piped up unexpectedly. "What DOES that have to do with the charge, Xavier?"

"Speaks to character," Xavier replied quickly.

"If it speaks to anyone's character, it is Castiel's, not hers," Daniel persisted.

"What sort of Angel would just accept everything he's done without protest?" Xavier said insistently. He really wanted to get this in. "Why DID you just accept it?" he asked Gail.

Before one of the board could object again, Gail was compelled by the chair to answer, as Xavier had asked the question of her. "I didn't just accept it," she replied, cursing herself as she said it. "I left him."

"Really?" Xavier said, smiling. this was an unexpected bonus. "And why did you do that?"

Gail rose from the chair. "I'm not doing this. You can't make me." She started to step down, but Xavier motioned to Jason, who walked around the table and grabbed Gail by the arm.

Castiel was torn. If he ran over to assist her, which he sorely wanted to do, Ignatius might eject him from the hearing room; he'd already been warned twice. But he saw what Xavier was trying to do. He was trying to use the truth-eliciting properties of the witness chair to force Gail to turn on him, testify against him. And she knew that too, and was refusing to do it. But Xavier had not excused her from the stand. Castiel looked up at Ignatius, appealing to his Brother silently. He'd always thought that Ignatius was fair. Was he really going to allow Xavier to do this?

Ignatius was thinking furiously. Was he? Xavier was straying far afield, and the fact that he had called upon Jason to restrain Gail from leaving the witness stand smacked of bullying. But the truth was, Ignatius really wanted to hear her answer to the question. He'd been wrestling with himself over the question of his Brother Castiel. Ignatius himself believed the charges against Castiel weren't as black and white as Xavier had been making them out to be. He had known Castiel for centuries, and even though his Brother was a deeply flawed individual, Ignatius knew there had been extenuating circumstances surrounding most of Castiel's actions. And even though Ignatius had never understood Castiel's desire to work with humans, perhaps due to Ignatius's own bias, he was under the impression that Castiel's intentions were mostly good.

He rapped his gavel. "The witness will return to the stand," Ignatius said, looking down at Gail.

She looked at him, then looked at Jason. Gail flashed back to the drunk man in the bar in Seattle. But there would be no Cas at her side with his Angel blade this time. He'd already been warned twice, and as Gail looked at him and saw the frustration on his face, she realized that Castiel was just barely holding himself in check so he could stay in the room to support her. She almost wished he would get himself thrown out, though. Once they forced her back on that stand, he might not like what it was going to make her say.

Still, there was the court of public opinion, at least. She glanced up at the gallery and made a show of struggling. "Ow! You're hurting me!" she yelled at Jason.

He rolled his eyes. He'd slashed her several times with his blade and she'd hardly reacted; now he was merely holding her arm and she was screaming bloody murder? Who was she trying to fool?

She had some of the Angels in the gallery convinced, though. "Let go of her!" one of them said, and another said, "There's no need to hurt her."

Gail almost smiled. She looked into Jason's eyes, maintaining her act, and he had little choice but to release her. But her victory was small. Ignatius had directed her to sit back down, so down she went, and Jason walked back to his seat.

Castiel hadn't been fooled by Gail's act. If he'd thought that Jason really had been hurting her, he would have had no choice but to attack him and damn the consequences. But Cas had seen Gail's quick glance to the gallery and he'd known what she was up to, so he stood down.

But Gail was back in the witness chair now, and the white glow was enveloping her again.

"There was a question on the table," Xavier said quickly, wanting to regain the momentum. "Why did you leave Castiel when he told you about his past?"

"Because, at the time - " Gail gritted her teeth, not wanting to say the words, " - I thought he was a liar and a monster."

The words hung in the room like a cloud of black smoke. Gail looked at Jason, sitting there smirking. She should have just let him kill her with his blade a moment ago. Put her out of her misery. She was never going to look at Castiel again. How could she, after what she'd just said?

"A liar," Xavier said. "A monster."

"Oh, would you just shut the hell up?" Gail said to him, anguished. It was bad enough that she had just said it without him having to repeat it. How many bad courtroom dramas had he seen, anyway?

Xavier felt a flash of annoyance, but he was also well pleased. So he decided to stretch it a bit further. "But you went back to him, didn't you? And why was that?"

For a change, Gail was glad that he'd asked that question. "Because Dean convinced me that I was being a hypocrite. I'd made mistakes in the past, too, the biggest of which was what I did with Crowley. Even though it was against my will, it was horrible, and I realized I was in no position to judge."

Castiel was surprised. He remembered Gail coming back to him that night after she'd gone off to talk with Dean, but he only remembered her coming back and asking for his forgiveness, which he'd thought was absurd. She had not really discussed what had occurred between her and Dean that night and he had never asked, choosing to remain content that she had forgiven him following his confession to her of the litany of his sins. He hadn't realized that Dean had been so instrumental in reuniting them. If he ever saw Dean again, Cas would have to give him a big hug, maybe even a kiss.

He wasn't hurt by what Gail had said about him on the stand. He HAD lied to her, at least by omission, and he actually had done a lot of monstrous things, which he'd confessed to her that night and which had been laid out here in this room. But he could see how upset she was, and though he continued to gaze at her, she would not meet his eyes.

Xavier was done. He'd made his point. He'd gotten Gail to admit that Castiel was a monster, and that she was no better than he was. It had been a very productive morning, and he wanted to go into the midday break on a victorious note.

"Request the midday recess," he said to Ignatius.

"Granted," Ignatius said. "Reconvene in one hour."

Everyone in the room started to disperse, but Gail sat rooted to the spot. She didn't want to go back to the table and face Castiel. She had turned on him, betrayed him. She'd just sit here and wait out the hour.

But as everyone was leaving the room, Castiel got up and approached Gail. She could see him coming, but kept her head down.

"Did you truly forgive me?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she said. It was the truth.

"Do you love me?" Cas asked.

"Yes," Gail said again.

"Then, that's all that matters," Castiel said.

She hadn't wanted to look at him, but she couldn't help it. Was he nuts? Or was he really just that much of an Angel?

"You can't mean that," she said disbelievingly. "After what I just said about you?"

"Oh, but I do," Cas said, smiling. "I always thought you let me off the hook a little too easily that night."

Really? she thought. He was doing this again? But she wasn't so sure it was going to work this time. She still felt like crap, and he was almost making it worse by being so willing to forgive her for what she'd said.

Cas's smile faded when he saw that she wasn't smiling back. "Do you love me?" he asked again.

"Yes," she replied, "but I don't see how you can love me back. Assuming you still do," she added wryly.

"Let me count the ways," he said, smiling again. "I hate Metatron, but I've got to admit he did me a favour when he gave me all those literary and pop culture references."

Now she did smile. He wasn't playing fair.

"Come sit with me," Cas said, taking her hand. She stepped out of the witness chair and followed him to their table. She would follow him anywhere, she thought, shaking her head. If it came to be, she would follow him to his execution and then ask the executioner to do her the supreme favour. There was no way she could carry on without him.

God had been watching the morning's proceedings with rapt attention. He'd thought that his Son and Daughter had Xavier on the ropes when they'd questioned him about his association with Crowley, but inexplicably, the board had defended him and let him continue.

His respect for Gail had grown. She had withstood Xavier's barrage of questions bravely, and had told the truth throughout. God was the only one who knew that the witness chair was just an ordinary chair. When He'd created it, God's intention had been to use it in extreme circumstances only, and He had let it be known that the chair had magical properties, compelling anyone who sat in it to tell the complete truth. But the white glow was all smoke and mirrors. The chair was only a chair; it was up to the conscience of whoever sat in it to determine what would be said. He'd thought that the chair would bring out the best and the worst of whomever sat in it, and He'd been right. Raphael had shown himself to be the arrogant bully that God had always known him to be, while Castiel and Gail had both confessed to their own shortcomings at great detriment to themselves, and had shown remorse and penitence for their actions. What more could you ask from an ordinary wooden chair?

But there was just a bit more testimony to go this afternoon, and He'd better get a move on.

Chuck, Kevin, Becky and Ethan were talking in the gallery. They had elected not to leave for the break, and were strategizing now.

Kevin had finally decided to include Becky in their number, confessing their true intentions. "But don't say anything to Aurielle," he had cautioned. "I know she's your friend, but she's sitting with Xavier and right now, she's on the wrong team."

Becky may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she got it. She'd been angry at the way her favourite couple had been treated at the tribunal. Every time she looked at Castiel and Gail, she thought about other tragic couples. Romeo and Juliet. Jack and Rose. Their love was real, but people and circumstances kept trying to keep them apart. She hated Xavier now, and that stuffy old board was just as bad. She'd gladly testify on her friends' behalf if anyone would ask her. She'd been a little shocked at the testimony that had come before, but when Becky had heard about all the bad things that had happened to Gail, she was back on board. Yes, Castiel had been bad before, but then he had fallen in love with Gail and she had saved him, and then Castiel had saved Gail. It was a classic love story; Becky had read many versions of this same story when she'd been human and even though these circumstances were highly unusual, she could see the parallels. So she had promised Kevin she wouldn't say a word to Aurielle. Truthfully, she was a little upset with Aurielle now, anyway. What was she doing sitting beside Xavier? So she had a crush on Castiel, so what? Couldn't Aurielle see that she was on the team that was hurting him? They hadn't spoken since the hearing had begun, and Becky had been avoiding Aurielle. After everything was over, Becky supposed they would make up, but for right now, Becky was in Gail's corner.

Ethan had been talking to Chuck and Kevin, trying to get their impressions of Castiel and Gail. Since this morning, he had done a lot of soul-searching and had decided that he was now rooting for the couple. Even though Castiel was still a prisoner and Gail would likely be joining him back in jail the way things were going, Ethan felt sympathy for them. Castiel didn't seem like a cold-blooded killer or a monster to him, even though both Castiel and now Gail had stated on the witness stand that he was. Though young, Ethan had been a cop and a pretty good judge of character, and something just didn't jive here.

Chuck and Kevin were dismayed. Their campaign for the couple had stalled, and they weren't quite sure where to go from here. Chuck in particular knew that this afternoon's testimony would likely focus on the couple's trip to Las Vegas and the supposed sinning they had done there, and he thought they might be able to recruit some of the younger Angels like Ethan to their cause if Xavier bullied Gail enough about that. These were modern times, and sex between two consenting adults should be no big deal, married or not. Ethan had told them he felt the same way, and Chuck was sure many of the younger Angels would, too. But they'd just have to wait and see.

When they reconvened after the break, Gail stood before Xavier even called her to the stand. She just wanted to get this over with. She and Cas had spent the entire hour talking and reminiscing about the good times they'd had in Las Vegas and in Vancouver, and her spirits had been lifted since the depression of this morning's testimony.

He caught her arm before she walked to the stand. "Remember, you have nothing to be ashamed of," he said, then amended, "WE have nothing to be ashamed of."

Gail smiled. He was right. She'd enjoyed reliving their holiday with him, and if the intimacy they'd shared was about to become public knowledge, she was OK with that.

So she walked to the stand and sat down, facing Xavier. Bring it on, she thought. You want to make me into a fallen woman, go ahead. I enjoyed the trip.

Xavier frowned slightly. She'd been broken before the midday break, and now she looked almost happy.

"Did you and Castiel go to Las Vegas with the Winchester humans?" he asked her.

"Yes, and I wish you'd stop calling them 'the Winchester humans'," she answered, smiling. "Their names are Sam and Dean, and they're very nice people."

Chuck, Kevin and Becky smiled at each other. Good one, Gail.

"Did you drink alcohol when you were there?" Xavier asked her.

"Yes," Gail answered.

"Did you gamble?"

"Yes," she said again.

"Did you curse?" he asked.

Gail considered. "Yeah, probably," she answered.

"Did you have sex?" Xavier asked bluntly. He'd been meaning to ease into it, but her casual attitude towards sinning was annoying him.

"Yes," Gail answered simply.

The gallery erupted in chatter. How was that possible? Angels were celibate.

Ignatius rapped his gavel. He was curious as to the matter himself, but as he looked down at Gail, he saw his daughter in her and couldn't bear to ask.

But Xavier could. "How is that possible?" he asked Gail.

"We were humans at the time," Gail replied.

Now there was no stopping the chatter. Ignatius rapped the gavel repeatedly until it died down.

"Humans?" he asked Gail. He couldn't help himself. "Both of you?"

"Yes," Gail said. "We were using our gift from God."

"A gift? From God?" Xavier repeated. He was shocked. He'd expected her to confess to sin, but he had not expected this. "How is being human a gift?"

"Look, Xavier, I know how anti-human you are," Gail said, happy to be turning the tables on him, "but don't knock it till you've tried it."

He gaped at her, puzzled by the colloquialism.

"It just means it's not necessarily a bad thing," Gail smiled, recognizing the look. "There are a lot of wonderful things about being human. Like enjoying a great meal. Getting a good night's sleep. And, yes, sex. Sex is wonderful when it's with someone you love." She looked at Cas, who was smiling. He nodded in agreement. "It certainly is," he said aloud.

Many of the younger Angels in the gallery, and even some of the older ones, were nodding and smiling, also. They remembered these things, and they had been good.

But Gail was Gail, and she added, "But peeing? I don't miss that," she quipped.

Many of the Angels laughed, and so did Cas.

But Xavier was not laughing. He was angry now, both at her attitude and by the fact that the spectators seemed to be encouraging her. "You realize what you are saying, don't you?" he asked her.

"Not really, Xavier, why don't you enlighten me?" Gail said, still smiling.

"You have just pled guilty to Count 7," he snapped back.

"How's that?" she said, feigning innocence.

"The Seventh Commandment," Xavier spat out. "'Thou shalt not have sex outside the bonds of marriage'."

The room went silent. A few of the younger Angels looked at each other. They'd always been under the impression that the Seventh Commandment referred to committing adultery.

"Whose interpretation is that, Xavier?" Gail shot back. "Yours?"

"It is immoral, and it is wrong," Xavier insisted.

"Well, we were humans at the time. I guess we didn't know any better," Gail replied cheerfully. "But don't worry, Xavier, now that we're back to being Angels, we don't do it any more. Unfortunately." She smiled at Cas, who grinned back. He tipped her a wink. She had said exactly what he would have said if he'd been up there, and he'd never been prouder of her.

Xavier was looking like he was finally going to have that stroke that she and Cas had been hoping for, Gail thought with amusement. He was beyond angry now. "You're a whore," he raged at her.

Castiel leaped from his chair and spun Xavier around, grabbing him by the throat. "Mind your language," he growled. He released Xavier but continued to glare at him, waiting to see what Xavier would say next. Jason stood, but Xavier waved him down, coughing.

"Violence, Castiel," Xavier sputtered, "why is that always the answer for you?"

"Sometimes the response is proportional to the offense," Castiel retorted.

Ignatius rapped his gavel. "Order," he said. "Please return to your seat, Brother Castiel."

Castiel looked at him and smiled. He appreciated Ignatius's verbiage. He returned to his seat, having made his point.

Ignatius looked at Xavier. He'd crossed the line, in Ignatius's opinion. While Ignatius did not entirely approve of what Gail had said, she'd revealed that she and Castiel had been humans when the offense had occurred, and they had behaved properly once they had become Angels again. And why he was still mystified as to why God would have bestowed that so-called "gift" on them, that was good enough for him.

"Are you done, Xavier?" Ignatius asked.

Xavier wasn't, but he sensed that Ignatius was losing his patience, so he said, "The witness may step down."

Gail rose from the chair, breathing a sigh of relief. She walked quickly over to their table, where Castiel rose and pulled out her chair for her. Before she sat down, he murmured, "You did great. I'm so proud of you."

"Way to defend me out there," she said softly. She smiled. "You're sexy when you do that."

"Well, then, I guess I'll be sexy for the rest of my days," he smiled back. But as he said that, the joke fell flat and they both stopped smiling. How many days would that be, exactly? They might have garnered some sympathy in the room, but they had no idea how the board was going to rule, and there were still three more Counts to go.

Xavier needed to regroup. "Move to adjourn for the day," he said to Ignatius.

"It's still early," Ignatius said in protest. He'd been hoping to conclude today. "Are there no more witnesses you can call today?"

"I have no more scheduled," Xavier responded.

The doors to the hearing room burst open.

"Well then, how about an unscheduled one?" Bobby said, striding into the room.

"QUARTET"

The gallery erupted as Bobby walked to the front of the hearing room. Ignatius did not bother to bang the gavel; the spectators were so loud that it would have done no good. And he was shocked, as well. Where had Bobby been all this time, and why was he just showing up now? And what did this mean for the tribunal?

Bobby reached the table where Cas and Gail had been sitting. They'd jumped to their feet on seeing him, and Gail threw herself into Bobby's arms for a hug. He hugged her back, smiling, as Cas pumped his hand, grinning.

"It's good to see you, Bobby," Cas said. "Took you a while," he said dryly.

"Very dramatic entrance, though," Gail said, smiling. "Kudos on that."

"Where have you been?" Cas asked him.

"It's a long story," Bobby replied. "A very long one. Why don't you put me on the stand and ask me about it?"

Cas looked at him, puzzled. What was he talking about? Then he remembered what Gail had told him that Sam said about the rules.

Now Ignatius was rapping the gavel and shouting, "Order!" He needed quiet in the room so they could all figure out what the hell was going on here.

After another minute or two, the noise began to subside. Ignatius and the rest of the board stared at Bobby, who was still standing with Cas and Gail. Xavier was frozen in shock. What the hell did they do now? Had all his hard work been in vain? What was Crowley doing?

Crowley was in his office in Hell at that moment. And what was he doing? He was having a conversation with God.

"You've been very busy, haven't you, Son?" God said casually, sitting cross-legged in the chair opposite Crowley's desk.

Crowley said nothing. He wasn't quite sure what to say here, a rare occasion for him. He'd been thoroughly gobsmacked when God had just appeared in Hell a little while ago. One of his Demon minions had knocked on his office door, shouting the news. Crowley had thought the idiot was crazy and had ignored the alarm, and then a few more minutes passed and his door had been blasted off its hinges.

"Sorry," God smiled after the dust had cleared. "But even you have to admit, you kind of deserved that."

So here they sat now, and God was staring Crowley down. Crowley was uncomfortably trying to avoid his Father's gaze, looking at the walls, the desk...then God crooked His finger and Crowley was forced to look Him in the eyes at last.

"I've let you get away with a lot over the years," God said calmly, "but you may have just reached an all-time low."

Crowley still didn't speak. What was God doing here now? Wasn't he retired? Yes, Crowley had done a lot of nefarious things in the past, but God had never come storming into Hell before. This was unprecedented.

"I've had to set a couple of things right here," God said, as if reading Crowley's mind. As if? Of course He was, He was God, and Crowley had been one of His first children in the incarnation of Cain. Had he really thought he was going to be able to do anything he wanted and escape his Father's notice?

God continued, "There was one thing in particular that required my personal attention. Lucifer's cage, Crowley? Really?"

Crowley's eyes shifted back and forth as he thought furiously, trying to come up with something to say, some excuse that he could give that wouldn't end up costing him his life. God's casual demeanour didn't fool him. He knew his Father was beyond angry. Crowley was a hair's breadth away from receiving a smiting he'd never come back from.

"The only thing that's keeping me from doing what you're thinking of right now," God smiled grimly, "is that I think there still may be a sliver of hope for you."

Crowley looked at Him sharply. "Hope?" he echoed, puzzled. What was his Father talking about? What kind of hope could there be? Look where they were.

"Yes," God said, continuing to smile. "Believe it or not. Not all that appears to be good is good, and not all that appears to be evil is evil."

If he hadn't been scared nearly to death, Crowley would have rolled his eyes at that. No wonder Angels talked the way they did; apples didn't fall far from the tree. God was the Father of the enigmatic statement. He smiled inwardly as he imagined God and Dean Winchester having a conversation.

"So I'll leave you be for now," God continued, "but we have to have a little chat about a couple of matters first. I've released Bobby from Lucifer's cage, for one thing. I don't know what you were trying to accomplish with that little stunt. Actually, I do," God said, holding up His hand as if Crowley had been about to speak, "but you don't want Xavier in charge up there, believe you me. Yes, he would have provided you with many more souls under his rule, but he doesn't like you. Even now, there is something in Heaven which could spell your destruction."

Crowley was startled. "What do you mean?" he asked.

God smiled. "Why should I tell you anything? You locked Bobby up with Lucifer, and you would have done the same with your Brother, had he not been otherwise occupied."

Crowley shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Yes, Castiel was his Brother, he had been since Creation, but he disliked being reminded of it.

"Castiel is your Brother, though, and there will come a time when you will have to choose," God said cryptically.

Potential smiting or no, Crowley laughed shortly. "Well, he's not a very good one. He's stood against me for centuries!"

"Who started that, I wonder?" God said coolly.

OK, God had him there. When Crowley had been Cain, he had killed his brother Abel, aka Castiel, in a fit of jealousy. Creation's first murder.

"You have always allowed your jealousy of your Brother to cloud your judgment," God said. "As far as I'm concerned, you owe him one."

"He killed me a while back," Crowley retorted, but in a soft voice. "Doesn't that make us even?"

"So he should have," God replied, frowning, "as you were attempting to kill him and the Winchesters and to enslave Gail at the time."

Crowley sighed. Why had he ever tried to argue with his Father? He could never win.

"And then you made Gail's brother Frank a Knight of Hell out of spite, and directed him to kill Castiel. You were also going to kill Castiel yourself in Las Vegas, were you not?" God continued. "So I'd say the score's a little lopsided."

"Do you not think he would kill me if given the chance?" Crowley said bitterly. Good Lord, a few minutes with his Father and he was talking like an Angel now. Or a disgruntled sibling.

"Yes, I'm sure he would," God said almost cheerfully. "But he's got his own problems right now, and as you have contributed in big part to those problems, I'm tempted to let him do it."

Crowley looked at Him sharply. Was his Father joking? It was sometimes hard to tell.

"You owe Gail, too, for the murders of her parents and for the corrupting of her brother's soul. And for telling Xavier the things you did about your so-called relationship with her," God scolded him.

Crowley remained silent, but he protested inwardly. Yes, he may have embellished, but he'd honestly thought at the time that he and Gail did have a relationship, or could have one.

"Well, you didn't," God said, knowing his Son's thoughts. "And you never would have. I sent her for Castiel, not for you, and you're going to have to get over it."

"This isn't about her," Crowley said, bristling. "It's never been about her."

"Then what is it about, Son?" God asked quietly, although of course He already knew.

"You always liked Castiel more than me," Crowley said resentfully. "So I rebelled. But I've built something here now, made something of myself." He could almost be talking to Rowena. "I'm a King here."

"Yes, you are, but only because I've allowed you to be," God said calmly. "Maybe I did show preference to Castiel, but I always held out hope for you, Son. I still do."

Crowley couldn't figure his Father out. He'd stated flat out that he preferred Castiel and had chastised Crowley for his admittedly evil deeds, yet He was still blathering on about hope for the King of Hell. What was Crowley supposed to make of that? His Father had made him what he was, hadn't he?

"No, Son, I created you," God said, shaking his head. "You made yourself when you raised that knife for the first time out of hatred and jealousy. Think about it."

Crowley frowned. Maybe he would, but he wouldn't waste too much time on it. He had a Kingdom to run.

"About that," God said. "I've had to chastise Lucifer severely. He had Bobby in pretty bad shape when I got there, and it took a lot of effort to reinstate Bobby's mind. I hope I was able to repair all the damage."

Crowley actually felt a pang at that. Guilt? He didn't particularly hate Bobby, it had been his Brother he'd really wanted in that cage to be tormented by Lucifer. Payback for...what, exactly? Maybe just for being a pain in Crowley's ass all these years. When you were supremely evil, you didn't have to justify yourself to anyone.

"I've sealed the wing for the moment," God continued. "I don't want anyone to go in there for a while. My Son was not happy that I took away his chew toy."

Crowley almost smiled. His Father had a way with words sometimes. No wonder He was God. He was a peculiar mix of Angel, human, even a little Demon sprinkled in.

"But Bobby seems OK now, and his presence was urgently required in Heaven to help clean up the mess Xavier has made. I know you know more than a little something about that," God said dryly.

"Oh, and I released Garth and Bess, also," God added.

Crowley looked up. "That was a legitimate deal," he protested.

"It was a dirty deal, and you know it," God retorted. "You were going to kill Sam and Dean anyway."

"I told Garth I would keep them alive, and I did," Crowley said. "Well, I actually had to revive them, using my special skill. I got to Dallas a tad too late. But I upheld my end of the bargain."

"Normally, I would agree," God said. He'd allowed Crowley's deals to continue because people entered into them of their own free will, and usually the people who did them were coming to Crowley out of greed and self-gain. Those were the types of people who belonged in Hell anyway, so God hadn't bothered to step in. But Garth had entered into the deal out of love for his friends, and Bess had entered into the deal out of love for Garth, and Crowley hadn't played fair. Even as he'd revived Sam and Dean, he was planning for their deaths at the hands of Gail's brother. So Crowley had entered into the deal in bad faith, and Garth and Bess's sacrifice had been for nothing.

"You're a businessman at heart," God continued, "so you know the deal is null and void. The Werewolves have been released back unto Earth."

"You've set Hellhounds loose on Earth," Crowley said incredulously.

"They were never Hellhounds," God replied calmly. "They took no souls while in your dubious service."

Crowley was surprised. He had instructed that they be sent to Earth with the rest of the pack.

"They refused to do your dirty work," God said, smiling. "So they have been rewarded. I sent them back to their old lives."

"But they're still Werewolves." It was a question, but Crowley's inflection made it a statement.

"Yes, they are," God agreed. "Some things were not meant to be changed." He had intended for Garth and Bess to go to Hell as a cautionary tale, an instructive lesson in what could happen to them if they were to give in to their base urges. God had known that Garth in particular was weakening, and if he'd given in, Bess would surely have followed. But the couple had shown Him something when they'd steadfastly refused to take that poor individual to Hell and prevented the rest of the pack from doing it. God happened to know that the man who had made that particular deal had done so out of desperation. His wife had been suffering from cancer and the costs of her medical care were so onerous that he had made the Demon deal not out of greed, but out of the need to feed his family. God liked to think that perhaps Garth and Bess had sensed that, and it had been an extra motivating factor in their decision not to take him. But, no matter. They had learned their lesson, that was the important thing. When God had released them from Hell's kennel and changed them back to their human appearance, they had prostrated themselves at His feet and vowed never to harm a human, and He believed them. Bess and Garth would continue to suffer the affliction every month, but they would be all right.

God had also considered releasing Frank while He was there, but He did not. He had His reasons. But He had been glad to see the change in Gail's brother. Even though Frank had been unable to do anything to help his sister, his intentions were pure. Demon or not, God would have to address his situation at some point. Frank and Gail had received a raw deal from birth, and it was unfortunate, but everything that had happened to the siblings was by design. They had been the catalyst for many other events, beginning with their kidnapping by Crowley's Demons and Sam and Dean Winchester's discovery of Gail on that dark lonely road. God had used the brother and sister, and He would have to make it up to them.

But right now the priority was the tribunal, and God was looking forward to witnessing the rest of it. Bobby's sudden arrival would throw a monkey wrench into Xavier's well-oiled machine, and God was curious to see what Xavier was going to do next. But He couldn't watch and continue to converse with the King of Hell at the same time; it would take too much energy, and He'd better conserve. God had the feeling He'd need to use up a considerable amount of power before this whole thing was over.

So He rose from His chair and looked down at Crowley. "Think about what I said. Think very carefully about it. We may chat again soon."

Crowley opened his mouth to speak, though Lord only knew what he was going to say, but God had already vanished. Then it occurred to Crowley that God had not even mentioned Metatron. Oh well, Metatron was back in Heaven now. Presumably their Father was going there now to deal with him.

Crowley smiled despite himself. God had "severely chastised" Lucifer, taken souls from Crowley, Castiel was on trial for his life, and God was going to take care of Metatron. The Originals weren't having a very good day. But Crowley had survived, and if God finally removed the scourge that was Metatron, he'd chalk that up as a win.

Castiel approached the dais and said to Ignatius, "I would like to call God to the stand." He looked back at Bobby, his mouth twitching. "Respectfully."

Bobby smirked. Good one, Cas.

Xavier stepped forward. "He cannot call a witness, Brother Ignatius. I am in charge of this tribunal."

"Well, I'm God, and I say he can," Bobby retorted, approaching the dais and glaring at Xavier. After God had released him from the cage and repaired his mind, He had filled Bobby in on Xavier's antics since Bobby had been gone, and Bobby was seriously pissed. He'd known that Xavier was a dick from the start, but he never would have forseen that things would get this bad.

Ignatius looked at the men, totally lost. What was he supposed to do here? The rulebook was of no use to him in this situation. There had obviously never been a tribunal held where God had showed up three-quarters of the way through the proceeding. He looked at his fellow board members for guidance.

"Isn't the tribunal now rendered moot?" Ignatius said to them. "The presiding God is now here."

"Who said I'm here to get my job back?" Bobby said. Everyone looked at him, shocked.

"What do you mean?" Cas asked him, puzzled. He had just assumed that Bobby had returned to take back the reins and restore order. But come to think of it, if that was the case, why would Bobby need to testify at all? Why would they not just cancel the tribunal, as it was unnecessary?

"Maybe I think you would do a better job than I did," Bobby said to Castiel. He had been coached by God prior to his return here and that's what he was supposed to say, but as Bobby was saying it, he started to feel like it was the truth. He'd tried to do a good job as God, but he'd failed in so many aspects.

"But I don't want the job," Castiel said. "I never did. I only agreed to do it after you disappeared, and only to prevent Xavier from assuming the Office. And that's how we ended up here, at this joke of a proceeding."

Xavier was livid. He didn't consider the tribunal to be a joke. What was a joke, and a bad one, was the prospect of either Bobby or Castiel sitting in the chair he'd been occupying. He'd grown accustomed to that chair, and he meant to keep it. He suddenly realized he still had the spell book with which to confront Bobby. This could still work out.

"I wish to call Bobby to the stand," Xavier said.

"Who?" Bobby said, pretending to look around the room. "Is there a Bobby here?"

Cas and Gail laughed, and so did their Angel friends in the gallery.

Xavier gritted his teeth. "I call God to the stand," he snarled.

"That's better," Bobby said. Man, did this guy ever need a good smiting. But that was not what he was here to do, at least not yet. He had his orders.

Bobby sat down in the witness chair. There was no white glow; as God, he was immune to the chair's effects, as Raphael had been. Actually, the chair had no magical properties, contrary to what everyone in the room believed, but that wasn't an issue for Bobby. God or not, he was going to tell the complete and unvarnished truth. It was his way, and it was high time these Angels got a clue. Except for Cas and Gail, Chuck, Kevin and Becky, and maybe young Ethan, Bobby realized that the majority of the Angels assembled had no idea how bad Xavier's rule was likely to get. And most of the board members needed a wake-up call, too. God had looked into their thoughts and He had told Bobby that most of them were backing the wrong horse.

That was, if he could hold it together long enough to say what he wanted to say. As God had suspected, Bobby's psyche was still fractured from his time in Lucifer's cage. God had restored his sanity as best He could, but the rest would be up to Bobby now.

He looked at Xavier expectantly, but now that Xavier had Bobby on the stand, he wasn't sure exactly how to proceed. He wanted to confront Bobby with Rowena's spell book and this would be the perfect venue to do that. The trouble was, he didn't have it with him.

"One moment, while I confer with my assistant," Xavier said, and walked to his table to speak with Aurielle.

Bobby had been so caught up in the reunion with his friends and the debate about testifying that he hadn't noticed Aurielle sitting there. What the hell? he thought. He'd brought her back up to Heaven, giving her another chance, and now she was sitting with Xavier, the guy that was trying to nail Cas and Gail to the cross? She'd cried remorse to Bobby for her actions against those two; had he been that wrong about her? Another seed of self-doubt planted itself in Bobby's mind. Once his job here was done, Bobby would have to have a long talk with Cas and Gail, and he'd better include the Winchesters. Bobby wasn't sure he trusted himself to make any kind of decision any more.

Suddenly, Lucifer appeared in front of Bobby, blocking his view of Xavier's table. "Yeah, I wouldn't make any decisions right now if I were you, Bobby," Lucifer said, grinning. "You've been a screw-up all your life, haven't you? What made you think you could be God? Look how bad things got while you were playing house with me. You let things get this bad, Bobby. This all started on your watch."

Bobby knew that Lucifer wasn't really here, he was only in Bobby's head, but the image was hard to shake. "You're not real," Bobby muttered.

Ignatius looked down at Bobby. "Did you say something?" he asked.

Bobby looked at Ignatius, startled. He wasn't even aware he'd spoken aloud. He'd better focus, he thought. Plenty of time to go crazy later.

Meanwhile, Xavier leaned down to Aurielle and said quietly, "Fetch me the book you had on your desk this morning. And make it quick."

Aurielle looked at Xavier, her expression unreadable. She didn't like the way he was speaking to her. "Fetch?" What did he think she was, a dog? Come to think of it, she hadn't liked the way he spoke to her this morning, either. She'd been working hard for him, and he either ignored her or spoke to her as if she were stupid. He and his buddy Jason sat at the table before the sessions and during breaks, treating her like a piece of furniture, making rude comments about Castiel and Gail. And while Aurielle had smiled when Xavier had called Gail a whore, their comments about Castiel had enraged her.

Aurielle may have been delusional, but she wasn't stupid, and she could see the handwriting on the wall. Now that Bobby was back, things would return to status quo, and Castiel would be leaving Heaven to resume his mission on Earth, lost to her once again. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't, it would kill her.

So she rose to obey Xavier's order, but as Aurielle glanced over at Castiel, he happened to be looking in her direction, and for one brief and wonderful moment, they made eye contact. Aurielle took this as a sign; he was appealing to her to release him from Gail's spell.

Aurielle left the hearing room and went to her desk, removing the spell book from the bottom drawer. She opened it to the page she had marked in preparation for the hearing, the one with the love spell. She stared at the page for a moment, her mind working furiously. She hadn't wanted to do this, but Aurielle was desperate now. She closed the book and ran to her old desk with it, hiding it in her bottom drawer under a pile of papers.

Then Aurielle returned to the hearing room and told Xavier that she'd looked high and low and had been unable to find the book anywhere.

"How can that be?" he hissed at her. "You had it this morning!"

"Someone must have taken it," Aurielle said innocently, affecting a worried expression. "I'm sorry, Sir, I have no other explanation!"

Ignatius said, "Xavier, we're waiting. Move it along, please."

Xavier was fuming, but he had no choice but to turn around and face Bobby, who had been sitting on the stand waiting as patiently as he could. What the hell had that been all about? he wondered.

Castiel had been wondering the same thing. He had been watching as Xavier had spoken to Aurielle and though Xavier had spoken softly, Cas could have sworn he'd said something about a book. Then, as Aurielle had risen from her chair, Castiel had made himself look at her, trying to read her expression. He was sure he'd seen anger on her face. Interesting. What was the book that Xavier had been referring to? Then it dawned on him. Xavier could only have been referring to the spell book he had shown to Castiel, the book Xavier had found in Bobby's desk. It was inscribed by Rowena to Bobby, and the message had been very personal, leaving little to the imagination. It was this book that Xavier had been planning to use to have Bobby impeached, and he clearly intended to use it against Bobby now. Bobby had been kind enough to bring Aurielle back up to Heaven, giving her a second chance despite the wrongs she had committed. Surely she didn't intend now to help Xavier condemn Bobby? Castiel had appealed to Aurielle silently not to do this, and it was this look that she had chosen to misinterpret. He'd seen her expression change from anger to joy as she'd looked back at him, and Castiel hadn't been sure what was behind the transformation. But she'd returned to the hearing room empty-handed. Did this mean she had refused to betray Bobby? Was there hope for her after all?

Bobby looked at Xavier. "I know that none of us need to sleep, but could we maybe do this today, Xavier?" he said dryly. Lucifer had vanished for the moment, but there was no telling when he might be back. Bobby had some things he needed to say, and he didn't want to have another episode before getting his message across. Bad enough that God had PTSD, he didn't want to look like a raving lunatic in front of the board.

Xavier was frustrated that he could not wave the spell book in Bobby's face and denounce him in public. He considered asking him about it anyway, but the allegation was so outrageous that he feared making it without sufficient proof. And the properties of the chair didn't work on God. Like it or not, Bobby was God at the moment, and he could just lie about it if he chose. He probably would, too; Xavier wouldn't put it past him. And it's what Xavier would have done had he been in Bobby's position.

Still, here they were, and Xavier had better say something. He knew that everyone in the room wanted to know where Bobby had been all this time, but Xavier couldn't ask him that, either. Xavier was the only one here save for Bobby himself who knew that Bobby had been in Lucifer's cage, locked away by Crowley to pave the way for this very tribunal. Suddenly, he sorely regretted having called Bobby to the stand. Who knew what he was going to say? And how much did he know?

But Xavier was stuck now, and he took the plunge.

"Did you send the Angels Castiel and Gail and the Winchester humans to Las Vegas?" he asked Bobby.

"Yes, I did," Bobby replied. "The Prophecies had foretold that they should go." He glanced down at the chair, furrowing his brow. His first sentence and he was talking like a stuffed-shirt Angel. The hell with that. "And Gail was right, Sam and Dean have names." He smiled. Better.

Xavier was not to be deterred. He saw an opportunity to make Bobby look bad and he intended to take it.

"Prophecies or not, you were the one who arranged for the Angels to stay in the same room together, correct?"

Gail rolled her eyes. Was he still on that? What was he trying to say, that Bobby was her pimp? She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"Yeah, and I gave them the gift of being human for the weekend," Bobby retorted. "What they may or may not have done in there is nobody's business but theirs."

Xavier frowned. "Not true," he fired back. "Their offense is the charge before us."

"What's offensive here is you," Bobby said, raising his voice. "I happen to know that God has no problem with it, and as the reigning God, neither do I. Get off it, Xavier. Why don't you ask me something important?"

"All right, I will," Xavier said. Everyone in the gallery leaned forward expectantly. He was finally going to ask God where he had been all this time.

"Do you feel you're fit to be God?"

Most of the Angels gasped at that. Wasn't that blasphemy? There were mixed feelings among them when it came to Bobby, but he did currently hold the High Office, and Xavier had at least one foot over the line here.

But Bobby was perversely glad that Xavier had asked the question. He'd been asking it of himself for some time now.

"Ya know, that's a good question, Xavier," Bobby mused, sitting back in the chair. "Finally," he smirked. He took a moment, then said, "I've been asking myself that same question ever since I took the job. I may be fit to be God, but should I be? Do I even want to be any more? I honestly don't know."

Castiel was staring at Bobby. He'd been angry with his friend for some of the decisions he'd made, and for staying away so long when they'd needed him so badly, but he felt compassion for Bobby now. Castiel admired the honesty of Bobby's self-evaluation. Bobby was indeed fit to be God, in Castiel's opinion, the most fit of any of the candidates.

"I know Cas never wanted the job, but in a lot of ways he'd be better at it than me," Bobby continued. "Look, I know what you've been trying to do to him here, but Cas is a good man. Yeah, he made mistakes in the past, but who hasn't? I know I have, and so have you, Xavier, and so has everybody. It's what you do after your mistakes that determines your character. I've known him for years, and if I had to pick one Angel to have my back, it'd be him, every time." Bobby grinned. "No offense, Gail."

"None taken," she piped up, smiling at him. She loved what he was saying. It was high time someone put Xavier in his place and stuck up for Cas.

"But, you?" Bobby continued, staring at Xavier. "You're not fit to be God. You're a stuffed-shirt egomaniac with delusions of grandeur, and you think your stuff don't stink." He smiled at Cas and Gail. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

They laughed happily. Thank goodness Bobby was back. Heaven needed him. Surely he didn't mean what he'd said about not wanting the job. But why wasn't Xavier asking him where he'd been?

Gail nudged Cas. "Ask him where he's been."

He looked at her. Right. It was time to invoke the rule Sam had uncovered. He stood.

"Where have you been, Bobby?" Cas asked him.

Xavier sighed loudly in exasperation. "Brother Ignatius, he's at it again!"

But Castiel was not going to back off this time. "The ancient rules by which this hearing is governed state that any Upper Echelon board member can question any witness at any time," he stated. "I am an Upper Echelon board member. The senior ranking member," he couldn't resist adding.

Ignatius was taken aback. Was this true? Castiel had stated it with such conviction. Truthfully, Ignatius had never read all the rules. The language was dry and the reading of it laborious, and he had just left it up to Xavier to conduct the tribunals accordingly. This situation was also without precedent.

Xavier was fuming. He'd known about the rule, of course, but how did Castiel know all of a sudden?

Gail relished the stunned look on Xavier's face. "His name is Sam Winchester, and he was a pre-law student," she called out to Xavier. "Thanks for letting me out of prison," she taunted.

Bobby didn't know the context, but he grinned at that anyway. He should have known there would be a Winchester involved somehow. "Well, if Sam was involved, that must be right," Bobby said. "That's one smart boy."

Xavier had no choice but to give the floor over to Castiel. The board members were regarding him curiously, and he wanted to take the focus off of himself for the moment. If he backed off, perhaps they would not realize that he'd known about the rule all along. He bowed sarcastically to Castiel and went back to his table, sitting down heavily beside Jason.

Cas approached the stand, smiling. "Actually, we'll get to where you've been in a moment, Bobby. I want to ask you something else first. How have you been?"

Bobby looked at him, a little startled by the question. He didn't really know how to answer it. He sighed. There was only one way; his way.

"Not good, Cas," Bobby said. "Not good."

Castiel frowned. "Why is that?"

"Because I've been locked up in Hell, in Lucifer's cage," Bobby replied.

Total bedlam. Several of the female Angels in the gallery screamed, and Gail shouted, "What?" Bobby had been in Hell this whole time?

Cas felt a stab to the gut. He'd known from Dean and Sam that Bobby had gone to Hell before he and Gail had gone on the run, ostensibly for a meeting with Crowley. Was he saying that he had been held prisoner there this whole time? That he had not left and returned to Heaven, as Castiel assumed that he would have? Crowley had even told the Winchesters that he had. But, consider the source. Had they actually just taken Crowley's word for it? But Castiel had thought that as God, Bobby would not have had a problem in leaving Hell. And that would have been right, but he had not thought about Lucifer's cage. That explained why Bobby had been away so long; it was the one place in Hell he could not have escaped from.

"I'm so sorry, Bobby," Cas said softly. "If I'd only known..." he trailed off. What could he say? The guilt was gnawing at his stomach. He should have known. He should have done more for Bobby instead of selfishly worrying about his own hide.

Gail was feeling the same way. They'd gone off on a road trip, deserting their friends, and had ended up back here anyway. And all this time, Bobby had been locked up in Hell, suffering Lord knows what. How could he even talk to them right now?

"You had no way of knowing, Cas," Bobby told him. "I take full responsibility; it was a stupid move on my part. I promised myself I'd apologize to you if I ever saw you again." He smiled grimly, remembering that thought.

"Apologize? To me?" Cas was incredulous. "Whatever for?"

"I've been a little critical of your decision-making in the past," Bobby answered wryly, "but my decision to go there was the biggest bonehead move of all time." He shook his head. "When Crowley and Metatron took Sam and Dean and asked for us in exchange and I couldn't reach you to talk to you about it, I decided to go myself, to save the boys." Bobby made a face. "I thought, well, I'm God, what are they gonna be able to do to me? But I didn't count on the cage."

Now Castiel was consumed by guilt. He'd subsequently found out that Crowley had asked for him in the exchange along with Bobby, but he'd just put it down to a meeting about Heaven's politics. How could he have been so stupid? This was Crowley they were talking about. He should have known there was something far more sinister going on than a simple meeting. Had he convinced himself there was nothing to worry about out of his own selfish desire to run away from his problems with Gail?

He couldn't speak; he could barely look Bobby in the eye. But Bobby was looking at him with a gentle smile on his face. He was God, after all, and he heard what Cas was thinking. "Let's just say we were all stupid and put it behind us," Bobby said.

Castiel understood. Bobby was forgiving him. But it would be quite a while before he was able to forgive himself. He had no idea what to say next.

Gail could see the struggle Cas was having with himself, and she knew him well enough by now to know that he was paralyzed by guilt. She felt guilty too, but it was worse for him. If he'd accompanied Bobby that day Crowley might never have gotten him. With their combined powers, they might have been able to finish Crowley and Metatron once and for all.

"Ask him how he got out," Gail called out to Cas. He turned and looked at her gratefully.

Cas turned back to Bobby. "How DID you get out?"

"There's only one way to do that," Bobby replied, cheerfully enough. "Our Father busted me out."

Ignatius nearly fell off his chair with the shock of Bobby's revelations. The King of Hell had actually abducted God and put him in Lucifer's cage? And how exactly had Metatron been involved? Then the original God, their Father, had rescued Bobby personally? But he knew about Lucifer's cage, as did all the long-standing Angels, so Ignatius knew Bobby had to be telling the truth. Only God Himself could open that cage. Ignatius found himself feeling sympathy for Bobby; what a terrible thing to have gone through.

"I am truly sorry for your ordeal, my Lord," Ignatius said to Bobby, who did a double-take. Was Ignatius talking to him? Bobby wanted to smile but he figured he'd better not. He settled for a nod. "Thank you, Ignatius."

Xavier was disgusted. Now Ignatius was speaking to Bobby with respect, like he really was God or something. So far Xavier's name hadn't come up, but this testimony was still hurting him badly. If he couldn't come up with that book soon, there went his hopes.

Castiel's heart leaped when Bobby had mentioned their Father, and he touched his pocket where the white feather was. Had its sudden appearance foreshadowed Bobby's?

"Where is our Father now?" Castiel asked Bobby.

"I don't know," Bobby answered. "He sent me up here and said He had some business to take care of."

Castiel smiled. His Father, mysterious as always. But He had delivered Bobby to them, and now things would get back to normal.

"I have no further questions," Castiel said. He turned to head back to his table.

"You need to ask me just one more thing," Bobby said, freezing Castiel in his tracks.

Cas turned back, surprised. "What's that?" he asked.

"Ask me when I'm coming back to the Office," Bobby said. He winced inwardly. He'd been instructed by God to make sure Cas asked him this question, and he knew what was going to happen when he answered it honestly. But God had rescued Bobby from an eternity of torment, and Bobby had his orders.

Castiel's brow furrowed. What a weird thing to say. But maybe Bobby wanted to get in another shot at Xavier. There must be a reason Bobby wanted him to ask.

"When are you coming back to the Office, Bobby?" Cas asked obediently.

Bobby frowned. "I'm not."

Just when Castiel thought that nothing could possibly shock him any more, it seemed that there were still some things that could. Had he just heard Bobby correctly?

"Did you say you're not?"

"That's what I said, Cas," Bobby said, hating to do it. "I'm turning it over to you."

"Not so fast," Xavier said quickly, rising to his feet. "You can't just hand the High Office to him like it was a piece of candy!" He looked at Ignatius. "If Bobby is stepping down voluntarily, nothing here changes! The tribunal will move forward to its conclusion!"

Ignatius considered. He supposed Xavier was right. He had no idea why Bobby should want to step down, but if it was his choice, the Office would be vacant once again and the board would still have to rule on whether they deemed Castiel fit to take it.

Gail was floored. Why was Bobby doing this? Had he shown up here at the eleventh hour just to give them hope and then yank it away? How could he do this to them? Surely he knew that if he stepped down and allowed the tribunal to continue, Castiel would be convicted? Had he been lying when he'd apparently forgiven Cas for not being there when Bobby gave himself up to Crowley?

Cas was wondering the same thing. His eyes searched Bobby's face but Bobby looked back at him implacably, trying not to show the way he really felt inside. Bobby felt like crap. If it had been anyone else but God who had told him to do this, Bobby would have told them to go screw themselves. There had been such joy and hope in Cas and Gail's eyes when he had shown up here, and now he was throwing his friends back to the wolves.

Lucifer leaned over Bobby's shoulder and spoke into his ear. "Way to screw your friends over," he grinned. "An act worthy of...well, me. You know you just signed Cas's death warrant, right?" Bobby closed his eyes, but he could still hear his former cellmate. Yeah, he knew, but God had told him to do it. And of course, He had not told Bobby why. And now Bobby was seeing Lucifer again, and hearing him. He wasn't really here, was he? Then why could Bobby feel Lucifer's breath in his ear and feel his hand on his shoulder? When Bobby was done betraying his friends, he knew what he had to do next.

Ignatius rapped his gavel a few times, but he was merely doing it out of habit at this point. A shocked silence had fallen over the room. "Xavier is right. If the reigning God is choosing to step down, the tribunal will continue."

Cas stared at Bobby open-mouthed, and Bobby averted his gaze. Ask me if I'm the biggest dick in Creation, Cas, he thought miserably, and I'll answer honestly.

But Castiel had nothing further to say. He turned his back on Bobby and walked back to the table, feeling utterly betrayed by his friend. While he still felt horrible about what Bobby had gone through, Cas thought that Bobby would have at least tried to reassume the Office, thereby allowing the tribunal to cease. Didn't Bobby realize they were going to kill him at the end of it?

Gail took Castiel's hand and he closed his hand around hers. He was grateful for her support, but he was too stunned even to look at her right now.

Bobby stepped down from the stand and paused at their table, looking down at the couple. Castiel's head remained down, but Gail glared up at Bobby. "You realize you've just killed him, don't you?" she said bitterly.

Bobby looked at her miserably. He'd wanted to say something to them, but what could he say? I'm sorry? Yeah, that would make everything OK. That would be a real consolation to Cas when he was being put to death, and to Gail, who would be made to watch it happen.

He continued down the aisle and left the hearing room, vanishing once he'd reached the corridor.

Ignatius's eyes followed Bobby out of the room, and when he had gone, Ignatius rapped the gavel once. "We will adjourn for the day. Reconvene tomorrow morning at 9."

Everyone rose to leave, and the sound of Angels whispering in hushed voices about what they had just seen echoed in the room as they left. Cas and Gail continued to sit at their table as the room cleared, until there was just them. And Jason, of course, who had arrived at their table to escort Castiel back to prison.

"Let's go," Jason said. He was grinning; he couldn't help it. Things couldn't have ended up on a better note, as far as he was concerned. Judas and Jesus, Bobby and Castiel. Classic.

Castiel and Gail looked at each other, neither knowing what to say. What kind of words of encouragement could there be now? Their Father had delivered their friend to them, and their friend had shown his gratitude for being released from Lucifer's cage by sticking a knife in Cas's back.

Gail reached into Cas's pocket and pulled out the white feather. Then she released it and let it flutter to the ground. "I don't want it any more," she said petulantly.

"Don't say that, Gail," Castiel said softly, taking her hands in his.

"Why not?" It was how she felt.

He stood, bringing her with him. He didn't know why not, really. Cas just hated to see her lose hope. But what hope was there now?

"Come on, Lover Boy, let's go," Jason smirked.

"Would you just shut up for once in your life?" Cas said to Jason over his shoulder.

"I don't want you to go," Gail said, touching Cas's face.

"I don't want to go, either," Cas replied. But they weren't talking about prison, and they both knew it. He reached into his pocket to give her back the photo, but Gail shook her head. "No. You keep it."

Castiel nodded. He would keep it until the end. When they led him off to be executed, he would give it to Ethan to return to her. He felt reasonably sure he could trust the young guard to do him that last favour.

Gail threw her arms around him and he hugged her tightly. Then he reluctantly let go. Jason was going to step in in a moment and he didn't want to mix it up with Jason right now. He just didn't have the stomach for it.

Jason led Castiel out of the room and after they disappeared from her view, Gail looked around the empty hearing room. What was she supposed to do now? Where was she supposed to go? There was only one answer to that, of course.

But before she left the room, she bent down to the floor and picked up the feather, taking it with her.

She was going to just wink into the bunker, but as Gail walked into the corridor outside the hearing room, she reconsidered. She'd been brooding about Bobby and his betrayal of her and Cas, and something had just occurred to her. He'd walked out of here the same way she was doing now, and gone...where? Gail doubted he'd be in his Office; he'd said he was quitting. Where else would he go, but to see Sam and Dean? He may have announced his resignation, but Bobby still had God's powers, or at least he did for the time being, until they were conferred upon his successor. So he could do anything he wanted, go anywhere he wanted. And wouldn't he want to see them most of all?

So Gail went down to Earth, but she instead reappeared in the alleyway behind the supermarket she knew Sam shopped at, a few blocks away from the bunker. She walked around to the front of the store and went inside, walking over to the Customer Service desk.

"Can I use your phone for just a moment?" she appealed to the girl there. "I'll be brief. It's a local call." She smiled.

"Yeah, OK, go ahead," the clerk said, turning the phone towards Gail.

She dialled Sam's number and when he picked up, she said, "It's me, Sam. Is Bobby there?"

"Yeah, he's here, Gail," Sam replied. She cursed inwardly. Why hadn't she told him not to say her name out loud? "Where are you?" Sam asked.

"Never mind," she replied absently. What should she do now, go back up to Heaven? It occurred to her that she really didn't have a home now. Gail felt most at home in the bunker, but it was off limits to her right now. The only other homes she'd had since she'd been a child had been the apartments she'd lived in with Cas, and even those had been temporary abodes. They'd known that their place in Vancouver had just been a stopgap, and even though they'd been based in their apartment here near the bunker for the longest period of time, they had never hung the pictures she'd bought at the convention and she had never bought the TV for Castiel's room. It was as if they'd known they'd never be staying there long enough to make it a home. But she knew that Heaven could never be home to her, either. No wonder Castiel had chosen Earth.

Gail had heard talking in the background, and now Sam said to her, "Bobby wants to see you."

"Well, I don't want to see him," she retorted. Why would she? "I'm too busy trying to figure out how to remove the knife he stuck in Cas's back."

Sam sighed. "He said you'd feel that way. But there are extenuating circumstances, Gail."

"That's just a fancy way of saying you're making excuses for him," Gail said tartly.

"I think you should come here and listen to what he has to say," Sam said.

Gail sighed. Et tu, Sam? "Do you?"

"Yes, I do," Sam replied. "You'll see why when you get here."

Gail paused, not knowing what to say. If Bobby had told him and Dean about what had happened, and Sam was still sticking up for Bobby, had they sold Cas out too? This was unimaginable to her. So there had to be something else going on here.

"You need to talk to Bobby, and it should be now," Sam continued. "He won't be here for long."

Despite herself, Sam now had her interest with this cryptic statement. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Just come," Sam replied. Gail rolled her eyes, sighing again. Sam had been hanging around Angels too long.

"Fine," she said shortly. She guessed she'd better find out what Sam was talking about. "See you in a minute."

A moment later, she was in the library area. Dean rose from his chair immediately and walked up to her. She thought he was going to hug her, but he just stood there beside her, and he was watching her watch Bobby, who was sitting in the chair closest to her, head down.

Gail felt like walking up to Bobby and shaking him, giving him the wake-up call he so obviously needed. She didn't care what insecurities he was having about his job, he needed to keep on doing it, or Xavier was going to kill Cas.

She took half a step towards Bobby. Maybe she'd do it; she'd decide when she got there. But Dean put his hand on her arm and closed his fingers tight, restraining her.

"Stand down, Gail," he said to her. "He's been through a lot."

Yes, Lucifer's cage. She knew. Gail looked at Dean. "I understand that, but what do you think Cas is going through right now?" she said to him.

Bobby looked up at Gail miserably. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said.

"Oh, you're sorry?" she said, struggling against Dean's grip. "He's sorry, Dean. Well, that just makes everything better now, doesn't it?" she said sarcastically.

Sam stepped forward to Gail's other side and she glared at him. Was he going to restrain her, too?

"How can you guys be on his side?" she asked Sam incredulously. "You know that Xavier's going to take over and kill Cas, don't you? The tribunal is continuing tomorrow, Cas is screwed, I may go to jail, and Xavier is going to ruin Heaven, and all because HE won't do his job!" She gestured towards Bobby with her free hand, frustrated.

"I CAN'T do my job," Bobby said, raising his voice.

"Yeah? Why not?" Gail retorted.

"Because I'm crazy, that's why!" he said, agitated. His head bowed. "I'm crazy," he repeated in a more subdued voice.

Gail looked at Sam, then at Dean. What was he talking about?

Dean's grip on Gail's arm loosened, and he steered her towards a chair on the other side of the table from Bobby. "Have a seat, Gail. Let's talk," he said. He drew up a chair beside her, and Sam drew up a chair beside Bobby.

The four of them sat there looking at each other for a moment, then Bobby said, "Go ahead, boys. Tell her."

When Bobby had left the hearing room, racked with guilt over what he'd just done, he knew what he had to do then. But he had to talk to Sam and Dean first, try to explain. And he needed to see a couple of friendly faces, especially after the stunt he had just pulled in there. He didn't blame Gail for what she'd said to him; after all, it was likely the truth. He'd been amazed at Cas's restraint, though. If he'd been Cas, he would have punched himself in the face, at the very least.

But Bobby had his own problems now. He had thought that God had cured him, but he was clearly schizophrenic, or psychotic, or whatever the hell the headshrinkers would call it. He kept seeing Lucifer, and if that wasn't bad enough, he could feel him, too. His former cellmate had taunted him the entire time during the long walk out of the hearing room, putting his arm around Bobby's shoulders, even goosing him briefly. And Bobby could hear every word and feel every repulsive touch as if it were really happening. He kept telling himself it wasn't real, it couldn't be, but that didn't make it feel any less real to him.

He'd had his orders from God about what he needed to say on the witness stand, but Bobby knew he couldn't have continued to do his job even if he'd been asked to. He was nuts, and a crazy person couldn't be God. He'd been hoping that when he'd given his endorsement to Cas, that they would just cancel the farce that was the tribunal and let Cas take over, but he'd been naive. Xavier was too close to getting what he wanted now, and the board had backed him.

Bobby needed to go away for a while and try to get better. Maybe if he did so right away, he could still return to Heaven before it was too late. So he'd gone to the bunker to see Sam and Dean to tell them what was going on, and to say goodbye.

Gail was stunned. Today had just been one shock after another, and she frankly didn't know how much more she could take. Maybe she should go with Bobby wherever he was going; she felt like she was going crazy, too.

Even now, Bobby's eyes were wandering around the room, as if following someone or something that none of the other people in the room could see. And a couple of times he had jerked in his chair, as if trying to throw off an invisible touch.

"I know first-hand what he's going through, Gail," Sam said quietly.

That's right, she realized with a start. When Cas had related his history to her that night in Dallas, he'd told her that Sam had also been locked in Lucifer's cage in the past, and he had come out of it in pretty much the same shape as Bobby appeared to be now.

She looked at Sam. "I remember Cas telling me about that. I also remember him telling me that he absorbed your...illness, taking it on himself." She wanted to remind him what Cas had done for him. He should be grateful. What was he going to do for Cas in return, now that Cas needed him?

But of course, there was nothing Sam could do for Cas, or Dean, either. And apparently, Bobby wouldn't be able to help, either. He was right, he couldn't be God in this state. Gail was now able to look at him with sympathy, though she still felt despair. Apparently, the white feather in her pocket had actually been a red herring. There was no hope to be found here.

"I'd better go, boys," Bobby said, standing.

"Where?" Dean asked him.

Bobby smiled crookedly. "Where else? To the nearest mental hospital." He looked at Sam. "Was the food any good where you were?"

Dean's heart sank. Did it really have to be like that? He was suspicious of the mental health profession. They hadn't been able to help Sammy, had they? It was Cas who had done that, at great personal sacrifice to himself. Gail's reminder to Sam had not been lost on Dean. He'd been so happy to see Bobby again, but so upset when Bobby had told him and Sam what his resignation meant for Cas. What did God have against them, anyway? Why couldn't things ever go in their favour for a change?

But Bobby's mind was made up, and if he was going to do this, he should have some support. So Dean told Bobby that he and Sam would drive him over there, get him situated. It was the least they could do for him. After all, saving them was the reason he'd gone to Hell in the first place.

"Just don't tell them who you really are," Sam said, his lips twisting, "or they'll never let you out."

Dean and Bobby looked at him, but a laugh escaped from Gail. She clapped a hand over her mouth. She really shouldn't be laughing, but that had been pretty good. Well done, Sam.

Then Bobby smiled. "That was actually pretty funny," he told Sam, clapping him on the shoulder.

Dean didn't look too sure, but he grabbed his keys and turned to Gail, intending to tell her to wait here. He felt like they still had some talking to do.

"I'll come with," she said casually, "if that's OK." She didn't know why she wanted to go, she just felt like she should. As upset as she'd been with Bobby, he was still God, and she was an Angel. And she needed to think of Bobby as her and Cas's friend. She believed now that he still wanted to be, and it wasn't his fault that his time spent with Lucifer had driven him crazy. He needed their compassion now, and Gail believed that Cas would feel the same way if he were here. Bobby seemed to think that he could still be cured and come back in time to help Cas. And though Gail had her doubts, she supposed it was remotely possible. It was all they had now. Maybe she and Cas could prolong the hearing. Now that they knew he could call witnesses, they'd have to put their heads together and see if they could stretch it out.

So the four of them drove to the facility and Bobby committed himself. He turned to them to say goodbye, and Gail felt around in her pocket and withdrew the white feather. She pressed it into Bobby's hand. "Here," she said. "A gift from Dad. Keep it with you at all times; it represents hope."

He looked at her curiously. She hadn't told him the story behind it, but now was not the time. Hopefully, they could all share a drink and a laugh together in the near future and she and Cas could hug him and tell him about it. That was assuming she could ever pull herself away from Cas long enough to do it. If the miracle that would allow that occasion to happen were ever to occur, Gail didn't think she'd ever be able to let go of Cas again.

"Get well, Bobby, and not just for us. For yourself," Gail said to him. "This is from Cas." She put her arms around him and hugged him. "And this is from me." She kissed him gently on the cheek.

Bobby hugged her back tentatively, surprised. God had told Bobby about Gail's testimony, and he had no idea how she could ever have thought that she wasn't fit to be an Angel. Look at the compassion she was showing him now, after he had hung her and Cas out to dry like he had.

Gail moved out of the embrace. "Oh, and tell you-know-who to go screw himself." She smiled at Bobby, and he smiled back.

"Who, Voldemort?" Sam's voice from behind her. He was on fire today, Gail thought, and she and Bobby shared a laugh.

Gail turned around and looked at the brothers. "I'll wait for you outside," she told them. She thought their goodbyes with Bobby should be private, and it was a beautiful sunny day out. She'd been missing those since being cooped up in Heaven.

Gail stood outside, letting the sun warm her, thinking about Bobby and hoping he'd be all right. They'd never discussed exactly why Bobby had been in Lucifer's cage in the first place, but she had a pretty good idea. If Xavier hoped to be God, he needed both Bobby and Castiel out of the way. Xavier and Crowley had obviously entered into some kind of unholy arrangement where Crowley would take care of Bobby, and Xavier would take care of Castiel, paving the way for Xavier to take the Office. Xavier would benefit by getting to be God, and Crowley would benefit by Heaven getting rid of Castiel for him, since he'd never been able to do it himself. And since Xavier and Crowley were working together, Crowley had given him all the inside information on Gail to use for his questions at the tribunal. Come to think of it, Crowley went even further back with Castiel and the Winchesters; he must have been the one who had provided Xavier with the Affidavit outlining Castiel's alleged offenses over the years. But Xavier couldn't disclose their relationship, nor could he submit an Affidavit written by the King of Hell and not be laughed out of the room. So the Signator had been made confidential by Xavier, but not out of fear of reprisal from Castiel. That was just another opportunity Xavier had taken to make Cas look bad. She'd love to see that reprisal, though, she truly would. She knew that this had been said before, by all of them, but Crowley would have to be taken care of once this was all over. If she was on her own, she'd enlist Sam and Dean's help to do it before she killed herself. Actually, maybe she'd have Crowley kill her first. If she killed herself, wouldn't she end up in Hell, as Becky had? No way could she allow that to happen. Was it different for Angels? She couldn't ask Castiel about that; if their time remaining was short, she was certainly not going to bring his spirits down any lower by talking about that subject. Maybe she'd ask Chuck.

Sam and Dean came out of the hospital then, and they walked back to the car in silence. Gail could see in their faces that it had been very difficult for them to say goodbye to Bobby so soon after getting him back, and their reluctance to leave him in that place. But it was for the best, at least for now.

Gail had intended to go back to the bunker with them, but she changed her mind. They didn't look like they were in any mood for company, and she wanted to see if she could get in to visit Cas and tell him about this. He needed the full story so he could forgive Bobby too. And Gail wanted to tell him her thoughts about Crowley and the Affidavit; maybe there was something there they could use. It ain't over till it's over, she thought.

But Castiel felt like it was over. How could it not be? He didn't care how much sympathy he may have garnered with his fellow Angels, he knew the board members and he knew their views of him hadn't changed. He was playing Devil's Advocate again, or at least imagining things looked at from their point of view. They had thought Bobby unsuitable to be God ever since the time of his apppointment, even before some of Bobby's decisions had inflamed them. Before the spell book. Maybe they just didn't like him, Castiel speculated; Bobby had never done anything especially egregious, not that Cas knew of. Well, except for his apparent dalliance with Rowena, but the board had not known about that back then. So even if by some miracle Castiel would be able to escape this trubunal without severe punishment, there was no way he would be allowed to assume the High Office. It would be Xavier's anyway, and his return here to Heaven of his own free will would have accomplished nothing. What had he been thinking? He and Gail had been dragged through the mud, and though he still thought she had come out of it clean, he'd hated to see her subjected to that.

And what about Bobby, anyway? Cas had known him a long time, and even though Bobby had had his issues as a human, he had always been a good man. Dean would have probably called him a "stand-up guy". But he had not stood up today, had he? Cas had been angry with Bobby, but now he was just puzzled. Bobby's betrayal went against everything Cas had ever known about him, and he couldn't believe that his Father had released Bobby from Lucifer's cage after all this time only to send him back here to screw Castiel over. It was unthinkable. There had to be more to the story. There just had to be.

Gail approached the front desk at the prison and her heart sank. There was a different guard on duty, one she'd never met. But she had to try.

"Hi," she said to him. "Could I please see Castiel for a few minutes?"

He looked at her. This had to be the Angel Gail. He was on shift here during the day, so Todd had not been able to attend the tribunal. But he had heard about what had been going on from some of the other guards. Todd was a newer addition to Heaven, and he and Ethan had that in common. They talked about the tribunal when Ethan came in to relieve him. Over the last couple of days, it seemed like Ethan was making up his own mind about the subject of the tribunal, and when he had come in before his shift a few minutes ago, he had told Todd about the day's events. Ethan had been angry with Xavier for badgering Gail the way he had, but he'd thought she handled herself pretty well. And then God had shown up, but he'd resigned, and the tribunal was going to continue. Honestly, Ethan was sorry that was the case. The more he watched, the more convinced he'd become that Xavier was on a witch hunt, and the board was behind him. He feared that Gail would indeed be back here as an inmate before too long, and that Castiel would receive the death sentence, and Ethan didn't know how he was going to handle that. He was already having serious doubts as to whether he was on the right side here.

Todd had been surprised to hear Ethan say that. Todd himself was young, and he'd had no preconceived notions about Castiel one way or the other. But he figured the guy must be in jail for a reason. From what Todd had heard, Castiel was part hero and part killer. An interesting contrast, to say the least. Ethan seemed to be going over to Castiel's side, though. Even now, Ethan had gone to Castiel's cell to have a talk with him before he had to clock in.

So Todd looked up at Gail and said, "Yeah, OK. Ethan's there talking to him now."

Ethan was talking with Cas? That had to be a good sign, wasn't it? Gail thought. She'd seen the young guard sitting with their friends in the gallery, and when she'd been testifying about being human, she had seen him smile. While it might be too soon to call Ethan an ally, Gail felt pretty sure he had at least one foot in their camp now.

"I'd take you, but I'm not supposed to leave my post until I'm relieved of duty," Todd told Gail. He was obviously more of a stickler for the rules than Ethan was. Ethan had escorted her himself, with no relief in sight. But she would not tell Todd that, of course.

"Can I just go myself?" Gail asked him. "I know the way."

Todd frowned. He didn't know if he should allow that. In truth, he didn't even really know if Gail should be here. Visitors usually had to go through proper channels, and here she was, just dropping in like she was visiting a friend's house. This was a prison, not a social club. Then again, his shift was over. It was Ethan's call, and if Jason didn't like it, it would be Ethan who took the consequences, not him. Todd liked Ethan, but he wasn't going to take the fall for him with Jason. That guy was nobody to fool with.

Todd sighed. "Go ahead."

Gail smiled briefly and hurried down the hall before he changed his mind. She could see that the young guard had been more conflicted about her presence than Ethan seemed to be, but now that she was in, Gail was determined to stay.

"Hi, Ethan," she said as she turned the corner towards Castiel's cell. Ethan looked at her, startled. "Your colleague let me come in," Gail told him. "You'll have to thank him for me."

Ethan smiled at her. He was already unlocking the door to Castiel's cell. "I should have figured I'd see you here tonight," he said to Gail.

But before he opened the door, and as Gail moved forward, Ethan caught her by the arm. "What did Todd say?" he asked her.

Gail looked at him curiously. "Nothing, really. He said you were here, and I asked him if I could come in. He seemed a bit reluctant, but he let me."

Ethan paused at that. He wished Gail had waited a few more minutes to show up, until Todd had gone off duty. He knew that Todd was more of a company man, and more inclined to follow the rules to the letter. What Ethan didn't know was where Todd's head was at regarding these two. Though Ethan had pretty much made up his mind which side he was now on, and that was why he had come to talk to Castiel, he had his doubts about Todd. Ethan hoped his fellow guard wasn't going to rat them out.

But she was here now, and there was no way he was going to keep her out. Not after God had turned on them that way today. Ethan had asked Castiel about that, but Castiel had politely refused to comment. Ethan guessed he could understand that. He'd heard that Bobby and Castiel went way back, and if any of Ethan's friends had quit on him like that, he would have been seriously pissed.

Castiel had been standing in front of the cell door talking with Ethan when Gail got there, and as he stood back to allow her to enter, he made eye contact with the young guard and gave him a nod of gratitude. He'd been right about Ethan. They'd had an open and honest discussion, and except for his evasion of the question about Bobby, Castiel had trusted Ethan enough to tell him what he felt Heaven would be like under Xavier's rule. He told Ethan he wasn't saying these things to get the job; he didn't even want it. He'd just felt like he had to take it after Bobby disappeared, to prevent Xavier from getting it. But now Castiel had gotten caught up in the web of the tribunal, and he realized he'd trapped himself by trying to do the right thing, and he was dragging Gail down with him.

She entered the cell and Cas drew her to him with one arm, turning to thank Ethan. But the young guard had already gone.

"I've got some stuff to tell you," Gail said to him.

Castiel looked at her, curious. "Let's talk, then," he said. "But first..." he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Then he smiled. "It's been a while since I've done that."

"Too true," she teased, smiling back. She knew what he was doing, and Gail agreed. They had to make the most of whatever time they had remaining. But if Bobby got well soon, that time might be longer than they thought.

So she took his hands and led him over to the bunk to sit down. Gail told him about having gone to the bunker, and about Bobby and what he was going through.

Castiel felt like kicking himself. He should have realized. Hadn't they been through the same thing with Sam?

"I should have known there was something going on," Cas said, frustrated with himself. He was smarter than that. This hearing had been preoccupying him, clouding his mind. "I should have known that Bobby wouldn't betray me. Us," he quickly amended, squeezing Gail's hands.

She gave him a brief smile. "No, it's you who's important here." He opened his mouth to speak, maybe to protest, but she continued, "The elephant in the room."

Gail had expected Castiel to be puzzled by what she'd said, but it seemed he still had the capacity to surprise her. Castiel nodded. "My death sentence," he said.

The words made Gail's blood run cold, but it was out now. That was the elephant in the room, and the only subject that was really important.

"If Bobby gets cured, he'll come back and take over the Office," Gail said.

Cas looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Strange talk for someone who'd given up hope a while ago," he said lightly.

She made a face. "I know," she said sheepishly. "I picked the feather back up off the floor after you left the room and took it with me. I gave it to Bobby to keep. I thought he could use it, and we have each other."

Castiel smiled at her. "I hope you gave him a hug from me," he said. He felt terrible for what he'd been thinking about Bobby now that he knew the truth. It was frustrating being locked up in here, not being able to see his friends. He sighed. But that was really the least of his worries right now, wasn't it?

"Do you think there's a chance that he might return before...before the tribunal is over?" Cas asked Gail.

She frowned. She didn't want to bring him down, but she didn't want to fill him full of false hope, either. How the hell did she know? She didn't know how crazy Bobby really was. And Sam hadn't been cured, had he?

"I don't know, Cas," she sighed. "I wish I did."

They sat glumly for a moment, and then Castiel said, "But our Father went to Hell to rescue him. That has to mean something."

Gail brightened. It did, didn't it? "I hope He gave Crowley a good smiting when He was there," she quipped.

They laughed together, and it felt good. Gail made a promise to herself then. If and when they ever got out of this, she would beg Bobby to let them go on another holiday with Sam and Dean. His own ordeal aside, Bobby kind of owed them, in her mind. They'd been on an emotional roller coaster since they had come back here, and even in Vancouver, they'd been worried about Sam and Dean and watching their backs the whole time. Their time in Las Vegas had been so freeing, and so much fun until she'd been stabbed to death. Come to think of it, she was still owed for that, too. Nothing put a damper on a holiday like being murdered by an evil Angel.

"What are you thinking about?" Castiel asked her. She'd been a million miles away.

"Sorry," Gail said to him. She should focus on him right now. There would be plenty of time for her to think her thoughts once they kicked her out of here.

"I was just thinking how much I love you," she answered him. While that wasn't exactly what she had been thinking, it was true nonetheless. "I don't think I say that enough."

Cas smiled. She didn't need to. He knew, but he still liked hearing it.

He leaned forward and kissed her again, and she kissed him back. And then something strange and amazing happened. Their mouths opened to each others' and the kiss became a very human one.

And it was at this moment that Jason appeared at the cell door.

They broke the kiss and looked at each other in astonishment. What had just happened here? They weren't humans now, they were Angels, and Angels didn't kiss like that. They couldn't. Could they?

"What was that?" Gail breathed.

"I don't know, but I liked it," Cas said, smiling.

Jason had taken out his Angel blade and banged on the bars with it.

"Sorry to interrupt this Count 7 moment," he sneered, "but you need to leave."

Gail looked at him, startled. She hadn't even noticed Jason was there. So he'd seen. Oh well, compared to what she'd confessed to on the stand this afternoon, that was nothing. But she still didn't know how what they'd just done was even possible. She looked back at Castiel, who was glaring at Jason.

"Why does she have to leave?" he said angrily.

"You're in jail for a reason, Castiel, and it's not to have conjugal visits with your little concubine," Jason retorted.

"Concubine. I'm gonna have to look that one up," Gail quipped, "so I can decide if I'm offended or not." If Jason was going to force her to leave, she was going to go down swinging. But she didn't want to leave. Her visit had been all too brief, and she really wanted to talk to Cas about what had just happened between them.

"Do I have to come in there and forcibly remove you?" Jason asked her. "Because it would give me great pleasure, I assure you."

It was only then that Gail realized Todd was standing beside Jason. Crap. He must have told Jason that she was here. Gail hoped Ethan hadn't gotten into trouble because of her.

"I don't think you want to do that," Castiel said to Jason in his quiet voice.

"Actually, I think I do," Jason said almost happily, motioning to Todd to open the cell door. He'd had it with these two. Every time he looked they were defying him, flaunting the rules, and he was sick of it, and sick of them. It was time they received a refresher course on who really ran things around here.

Todd opened the cell door and Jason snapped, "Leave us alone." Todd looked at him uncertainly, but Jason was the head of Law Enforcement, so Todd did as he was told. Todd's conscience had been bothering him ever since he'd left his post, and he'd gone to see Jason to report Gail's unauthorized visit. He'd be hanging Ethan out to dry, but Todd couldn't worry about that. While he wasn't sure how he felt about this whole tribunal thing, rules were rules, and if they didn't keep to the rules, what were they even doing here? Todd then exited the prison, feeling Ethan's glare follow him out. When Todd had come back in after his shift, accompanied by Jason, Ethan knew he was going to be in trouble. Just how bad the trouble would be remained to be seen.

Jason stepped into the cell, still holding his Angel blade. Gail sat frozen to the spot. He'd left them pretty much alone since the day they'd been brought here, but she could sense Jason's anger now and she was a little afraid. In his mind, he owed her quite a few more cuts with that blade, and they were here alone, with no witnesses and Castiel and herself unarmed. It wasn't fair.

But apparently, Jason had thought the same thing. He reached into his coat and withdrew another blade, tossing it to Castiel, who caught it almost in self-defense. "Let's go, Castiel," Jason said. "I know you've been dying for this. Sorry, bad choice of words," he said to Gail, smirking. She glared at him.

"I'm not going to fight you, Jason," Castiel said slowly, cautiously. Why was he doing this? It was so unnecessary. But Castiel's hand was gripping the blade tightly. "I don't want to fight you," Castiel added. But he was lying, of course.

"Don't," Gail said nervously. She knew him well. Things were bad enough as it was. "I'll go," she said to Jason, rising from the bunk.

"Maybe I don't care," Jason said to her, but he continued to stare down Castiel. "Maybe this has been a long time coming."

"I don't care about that. It's not going to happen," Gail said, standing in-between them even as Castiel was rising to his feet.

"Don't you think your boyfriend can beat me?" Jason said, smiling nastily.

Gail smiled sarcastically. "Of course I do, but that's not the point. The point is, that this is pointless." She gestured to the two men.

Jason slashed her arm with his blade. "Is it pointless now?" he taunted. Then he slashed her other arm. "How about now?"

Crap! That had hurt. And now there was going to be a fight. She knew Castiel wouldn't stand for this.

She felt him behind her, healing the wounds on her arms with his free hand. "Stand out of the way, Gail," he murmured. His voice had never been so quiet, and she had never been so scared.

"I don't want you to do this, Castiel," she said softly, pleading. "Even when you win, you'll lose."

Castiel knew what she meant, but he couldn't let this stand. Jason was right; this had been a long time coming. He was tired of this sadistic bastard, and he had hurt Gail for the last time.

"Move aside, Gail," Castiel said again.

"I won't," she said stubbornly. She knew he wouldn't attack Jason if she was in the way for fear she'd get hurt. And while a big part of her would love to see Castiel run his blade right through the guy, Gail knew this wasn't the way it should happen. The tribunal was still ongoing, and there had not yet been a sentence passed. Castiel wouldn't be doing himself any favours by seriously injuring or even killing the head of Law Enforcement, and Jason was setting him up.

Gail was right; Cas couldn't attack Jason with her standing between them. He appreciated what she was trying to do, but he wasn't so sure he wanted her to do it.

Jason knew what Gail was doing too, but unlike Castiel, he had no compunctions about her getting hurt. In fact, if she did, so much the better. He was tired of her smart mouth and her defiant attitude. If she thought that merely standing there was going to prevent this from happening, she was wrong.

"OK, if you won't stand aside, maybe you'll lay down," Jason said cheerfully. He grabbed her and threw her against the wall by the bunk. Her head hit the wall, hard, and she slid down onto the bunk, dazed.

Castiel attacked Jason savagely then, and even though Jason had been expecting it, he nearly lost his balance and his weapon. But he recovered, and the two men started to fight as Gail looked on helplessly. She didn't dare move back into the fray, but she had to do something before it was too late. But what?

After a minute or two, Castiel began to get the upper hand. He had the added benefit of intense rage to fuel him, while Jason had just wanted the sport. Jason hadn't provoked the fight looking for a resolution, he'd just wanted the challenge, and he enjoyed getting under Castiel's skin. He didn't really believe Castiel could kill him, or would. Apparently, his ex-compatriot had developed a conscience while communing with the humans. What a shame.

But when Castiel succeeded in disarming Jason and shoved him up against the bars of the cell with his blade to Jason's throat, Jason suddenly wasn't so sure. He saw the look in Castiel's eyes, and for a brief moment Jason thought he had miscalculated.

"I should have done this a long time ago," Castiel snarled, and his arm went back with the blade to deliver the killing blow.

But Gail grabbed his arm and held it. "No," she said firmly. "I'm not letting you do this."

He wheeled on her, his eyes blazing, and she almost took a step back. But she held her other hand out. "Give me the blade," she told him.

Jason was stirring, preparing to attack Castiel now that his back was turned, but Castiel wheeled back around and put the blade back at his throat. "I don't think so," he growled.

Gail moved around to the side of the men so that Castiel could see her.

"Give me the blade, Castiel," she repeated.

"No," he said shortly.

"Either give it to me, or stab me with it," Gail said to him. "Maybe you should do it anyway. You know what'll happen to you if you kill him."

"We both know it's probably going to happen anyway," he retorted, still staring at Jason. Relishing the look of fear in his eyes. "They can't kill me twice."

Now Gail was really scared. He'd never resisted her this long before, and his twisted logic was sound. He was really going to do it. She looked around wildly. Seeing Jason's blade on the cell floor, she picked it up.

"I'll do it, then," she said to Castiel, bringing the blade over to where the men stood and brandishing it at Jason.

Now Castiel did look at her. Was she crazy? She couldn't mean what she was saying.

Gail slashed Jason on the arm with his own blade. She had to convince Castiel she was serious. She had to admit she felt a grim pleasure in what she'd done to Jason; he'd certainly done it to her enough times.

"You can't, Gail, they'll put you to death." Castiel was now pleading with her.

"Really? You don't say," she replied dryly. "So what?"

"What do you mean, so what?" Castiel said angrily. "You'd be throwing your life away."

"And just what are you doing right now?" she snapped back.

"It's not the same," he protested, but there was a little less conviction in his voice.

"It's exactly the same," Gail said firmly. "I'll promise not to commit suicide if you do, too. You claim you love me; now prove it."

After another moment, Castiel lowered his blade from Jason's throat and took a half step back from him. Jason coughed once, then squared his shoulders. He'd be damned if he showed these two how scared he'd been.

"Let's go," he said to Gail. She glanced at him and laughed shortly. "You're not in the driver's seat right now, Jason. Do yourself a favour. Go to the front desk and I'll be out in a minute."

Jason gaped at her. Who the hell did this little tramp think she was? But Castiel still gripped the blade, and he still had that look in his eyes. He'd been about to do it, too, until his girlfriend had finally defused him. But Jason had better not press his luck right now. There would be plenty of time to deal with Gail later.

So he left the cell and walked down the corridor, and Castiel and Gail stood looking at each other, letting out the breaths they'd been holding.

"Wow, that was dramatic," Gail quipped, using her usual tactic to break the tension.

Cas wasn't sure whether to laugh or scream out in frustration. He'd wanted to kill Jason so badly. The blood was still pounding in his ears. But she'd talked him out of it by pulling the ultimate trump card: his love for her, and the fact that he couldn't allow her to be put to death. He'd played a lot of poker recently, but Gail was clearly the better card player.

So, what else could he do but laugh? He dropped the blade, and she dropped hers, and they were in each other's arms. She pulled out of the embrace reluctantly and touched his face. "I'd better go, I don't want to push it too far. I'll take these - " she picked up the blades "- and turn them back in, to Ethan," she added, seeing the momentary look of alarm on Castiel's face. "He's going to have to hear our side of this, too. Lord only knows what Jason is telling him right now."

Gail moved to the door of the cell and then paused, looking back. "We;re going to have to talk about what's really important, though, and soon," she said to Castiel in a serious voice.

He sighed. "I know. My temper," he said.

"No," she said. "That kiss. What the heck was that all about?" She smiled mischeviously. "And when can we do it again?"

His face broke into a grin, and that was how she really wanted to remember him tonight, so Gail turned and walked down the corridor. She came out to the front desk, steeling herself for the worst, blades at the ready, but Jason was gone and it was only Ethan. She handed him the blades, handles turned around, and he looked at her, startled, then took them from her quickly.

"Where did you get those?" Ethan asked her, taking them and locking them away in his desk drawer. "What the hell, Gail?" He had trusted her. He looked behind her, half expecting to see Castiel.

"He's still in his cell, Ethan," she said dryly, knowing what he was thinking. "If I was busting him out, do you really think I'd have handed you the weapons? They're Jason's," she told him, gesturing to the drawer where he'd put them. "But Castiel's cell door is open, so you might want to take care of that. I'll wait here."

Ethan looked at her, then went down the corridor to Castiel's cell. The door was wide open, but Castiel was just sitting on his bunk, and incredibly, he was smiling.

Ethan pulled Castiel's cell door closed quickly and locked it. "What the hell is going on?" he asked Castiel.

"What did Jason tell you?" Castiel countered.

"Nothing. We never spoke. He just stalked out of here a minute ago, and then Gail came out with blades," he said, looking sharply at Castiel.

"They were Jason's," Castiel said.

"That's what Gail said," Ethan told him. "What's this all about?"

"Gail will tell you," Castiel replied evasively. This was no problem for him; he'd had years of practice. He didn't want to get into it right now. He had some thinking to do.

Castiel laid down on his bunk and stared up at the ceiling, and Ethan could see that no more would be forthcoming. So he went back out to the front desk and Gail told him the whole story. Well, almost the whole story. She didn't mention the kiss, of course; that was between her and Cas, and even though Jason might have seen it, she was pretty confident he wasn't going to run around Heaven talking about it. And she might have glossed over the part about Castiel's murderous rage. But Jason had provoked the fight for no apparent reason, he'd brought the weapons into the cell, and Castiel had had to fight Jason when he'd attacked Gail without any provocation. Since Cas had healed her cuts, she had no proof to show Ethan, but she thought she could feel a lump on the back of her head where it had hit the wall. Ethan could feel that if he wanted.

But Ethan had seen Jason's bullying ways, and he believed Gail's story. Ethan was going to have a talk with his fellow guards, and he was going to tell Chuck and Kevin, too. This was getting out of hand.

"EAST OF EDEN"

After Gail left the prison wing, she was at loose ends, not knowing what to do or where to go. She had hoped to stay with Castiel as long as possible, maybe even through the night, but Jason had put a stop to that and now she didn't know what to do. Normally, she would have gone to the bunker, but she sensed that maybe Sam and Dean were feeling low about Bobby, and maybe they could use a break from Angels and their problems for a while.

So she went to the library. Hopefully Chuck would be there and they could have a chat. But the door was closed and locked. She saw a sign on the door that said: "Book Club Meeting". Why would he have a book club meeting and then lock the door? She peered inside and saw people moving about, so she knocked on the door. No response. She knocked harder. "Chuck? Chuck, it's Gail. Can I come in?"

Kevin's face appeared in the window, and he unlocked the door and let her in. "Sorry, Gail, we were having a meeting and we didn't want to be disturbed," he told her.

"Yeah, I see that," she said. "What book are you guys talking about? Maybe I've read it."

Kevin smiled. "It's not a book club. That's just what we're telling people. It's our first official meeting of the ABH. I'm glad you're here, actually. You'll be like a special guest star. Come on," he said, walking towards the reading area.

Gail was puzzled. She could see the group of Angels now, some standing, some sitting in the reading chairs. Becky and chuck were there, and they looked up, smiling. There nwere about 20 Angels in the group, Gail estimated. Most of them were young, but there were a couple of older Angels, as well.

"Guess who stopped by to see us?" Kevin said to the group. Unbelievably, the group started clapping. What the hell was going on here?

Gail looked at Kevin, then at Chuck, who was grinning. Chuck had been sitting on the couch beside Becky, but he stood now and came over to where Gail and Kevin were standing.

"Chuck, what's going on?" Gail asked him. "What's the ABH?"

"It stands for Angels for a Better Heaven," Chuck told her. "It's the group that Kevin and I started once the tribunal got under way."

"We wanted a catchier acronym, but we couldn't think of one," Kevin said, smiling at Chuck.

"How about Angels Standing for Solidarity?" Gail quipped. "Then the intitials would spell ASS, and you could use Xavier's picture on your literature."

All of the Angels laughed at that, and some of them clapped again. Gail smiled at Chuck, who laughed, shaking his head. "And I thought I was the writer," he said to her. "That was pretty good, Gail."

Gail was proud of herself. She thought so, too.

"Why don't you have a seat, and we'll fill you in?" Chuck said to Gail. Becky patted the empty space on the couch beside her that Chuck had just vacated. "Come sit beside me, Gail," she said brightly. She was happy to see her friend. Gail and Castiel were kind of like movie stars now, in Becky's opinion. The tribunal had been full of ups and downs, kind of like a really good courtroom drama, with Castiel and Gail as the tragic lovers being harassed by the system.

Gail took her seat on the couch beside Becky and Chuck looked at Kevin. "Do you mind?" he said to Kevin, and Kevin said, "No, go right ahead. This group was your idea, anyway." He walked over and perched on the armrest of the couch beside Becky, and took Becky's hand. Kevin smiled at Gail. "We figure if you and Cas can do it in public, so can we."  
Gail smiled. That was cute.

"We formed this group to try to get the word out," Chuck said. "We don't like what Xavier's doing to you guys. We know he's a liar, and we believed you and Cas when you said he's been talking to Crowley. Kevin and I were thinking there's no way Xavier could have that much information otherwise."

Gail was nodding emphatically. "Exactly! There IS no way Xavier could have had all that information on me without Crowley!" She realized that every Angel in the group was looking at her, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. In her zeal to agree with Chuck, Gail had forgotten how Xavier had made her look with the information he had. She didn't personally know most of the Angels who were staring at her now. What did they think of her, and of Castiel? She assumed that the group was on their side from what Chuck had just said, but she still felt as if she needed to explain herself.

"Look," she said to the group, "I feel like I need to say something here. Most of you don't know me, and you may or may not know Castiel, but since I'm here and he's unfortunately not, I guess I'm authorized to speak for the both of us. I know some of the stuff you've heard doesn't sound too good, but please believe me when I tell you there's a lot more to it than Xavier's been presenting. If Castiel was allowed to present his side of the story, you'd see that he's not the bad guy Xavier's trying to make him out to be."

"That's what we've been telling everybody," Chuck interjected.

Gail gave him a grateful smile. She still couldn't quite get over the change in Chuck. At one point, he had been one of their worst enemies, and now he was one of the best allies they'd ever had. Maybe the next time she felt discouraged, she should just think of Chuck, and realize that anything was possible.

"And as far as me...well, I've clearly made mistakes, too," Gail continued, "but I'm a relatively new Angel, and I'm doing the best I can."

"That's all any of us can say," one of the young Angels said, and the others nodded.

Chuck went on to explain that the purpose of the group was to raise awareness amongst their fellow Angels, let them know how bad things would be if Xavier was allowed to take over as God. "He's already instituted some stupid, Draconian rules," Chuck said.

"Yeah, like he doesn't want us holding hands," Kevin said. He was still holding on to Becky's hand, as if in defiance.

Gail looked at him incredulously, thinking he must be joking. "You're kidding, right?" she said.

Kevin sighed. "I wish I was."

Wow, Gail thought. If Xavier didn't even allow Angels to hold hands, what did that mean for her and what she had confessed to on the stand? Not to mention what Jason had just seen back in Cas's prison cell? Even if they'd been humans in Las Vegas and somehow received a pass on their physical intimacy because of that, they were Angels now, and that kiss...

"We thought you'd be visiting Cas," Chuck said, breaking into her thoughts, "or in the bunker."

Even though Gail wanted to tell the group that Bobby had not actually turned on herself and Cas after all, she didn't feel as if she should discuss Bobby's mental state. So she addressed his first point instead, telling them about Jason's having kicked her out of Cas's cell and sharing a highly abbreviated version of the fight between the men.

Kevin let go of Becky's hand and stood up. "He killed my mother," he said angrily. "I wish Cas had killed him."

Gail looked at him sympathetically. She could understand why he would say this, but: "If he had, he'd be guaranteed to receive the death sentence. I'm pretty sure that's why Jason provoked him tonight." She sighed. "Let's face it, there's a very good chance he will anyway."

"Nooo," Becky wailed, and Gail gave her a grim smile. She liked Becky, but she had almost forgotten how naive the young girl was. Saying it aloud made it feel too real, but it had to be said.

A sober silence fell over the room as the assembled Angels thought about this. It wasn't right. Even if Castiel had done all of the things that Xavier alleged, they weren't comfortable with Heaven executing Angels. And what about Gail? What was she up on charges for? Xavier had put her under a microscope, and all they could see was that she had been kidnapped by the King of Hell and forced to do his bidding, and obviously God had realized this, because He had allowed her to become an Angel. If He had not judged her, how could they? And this morals thing was ridiculous. If you could go up on charges for that, it could be any one of them next. Even though that part of their lives was now over, most of the Angels assembled remembered it fondly, and if all they could do now was hold hands and share a pure kiss once in a while, why shouldn't they be allowed to? This was supposed to be Heaven, wasn't it?

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Chuck said briskly. The mood in the room had plummeted, and he wanted to inject a little energy back into the group.

"We're down to the last three Counts, I guess," Gail replied, "then we're going to try to prolong the hearing as long as possible. Try to call some witnesses on Cas's behalf, for a change." They'd talked about drawing out the proceeding in order to try to give Bobby a chance to recover, but of course she couldn't mention this to the group, so Gail left it at that.

"I'll testify for him," Kevin spoke up. "It's time that board heard some good things about him."

Gail smiled at Kevin warmly.

"I'll testify too, if you think I can do any good," Chuck said. He made a face. "I haven't had the best reputation here, though, so I might do him more harm than good. Sorry, Gail."

She smiled at Chuck now. "That's OK, Chuck, you've more than made up for it."

"I can testify too, if you want," Becky said shyly.

"No offense, Becky, but to what?" Chuck asked. He knew she'd never known Cas in life.

"I can tell them how much in love you and Castiel are," Becky told Gail. "What a loving couple you make."

While Becky was being sweet, Gail gave her a rueful smile. Somehow, she didn't think the board would be too impressed by that. "That might be the kind of subject we want to avoid," she said with some humour. "Isn't that the sort of thing I'm in trouble for in the first place?" A few of the Angels laughed, but Becky looked so distressed that Gail put her hand on Becky's. "But thanks," she said sincerely.

Suddenly, an older female Angel spoke. "Do you have any idea why Bobby quit? And where he is now?"

Gail looked at her sharply. She'd wanted to avoid this subject.

The woman came forward, capturing the attention of the group. They'd all been wondering the same things. "My name is Patricia," she said to Gail. "I thought I was getting to know Bobby pretty well, and I was wondering where he'd just suddenly disappeared to. Then he shows up here and just quits? That doesn't make sense. That's not the God I thought I knew. And that wasn't the man I thought I knew."

Gail wasn't sure how she should respond to that. The group was looking at her expectantly and she knew she had to say something, but what? She sure as hell couldn't tell them that God was crazy, and currently in a mental institution on Earth. But she didn't want them to think badly of him, either. She and Cas still had high hopes that he would return to Heaven and take back the reins in time to save Cas from whatever sentence was handed down.

"Bobby's a good man, and he's not a quitter," Gail told Patricia and the rest of the group. "We hope he'll return very soon. He just...has something to take care of right now," she finished. It was a little lame, but it was the best she could do.

Patricia regarded her for a moment. It wasn't a very satisfactory explanation, and she had the feeling Gail knew more than she was telling them. But she wouldn't push it for now. Patricia had joined this group for a reason, and she was committed to the cause of keeping Xavier out of the High Office. If Bobby was not able or willing to come back, they'd have to find another suitable candidate.

"OK, well, unless anybody has anything else, we'll adjourn for the evening," Chuck said, and everyone stood up and began to leave. A few of the Angels came up to Gail and wished her and Castiel well, and she felt her eyes start to well up. They'd felt so alone here, without the support of Sam and Dean, and Bobby, too. It was so good to know that there were others who thought that what was happening to them was wrong.

Once everyone but Chuck, Kevin and Becky had left, Chuck turned back to face Gail.

"I have something I've got to tell you, Gail," he said grimly. "I didn't want to say it in front of the group, but you need to know."

She looked at him apprehensively. He looked so serious. What now?

He hated to say it, but he couldn't keep it from her. "I had a vision of Cas's execution," he said, wincing. Kevin squeezed Backy's hand and looked at Chuck. "Do you really have to tell her that, Chuck?"

"Yes, I do," Chuck said, agitated. "She needs to know how serious this is! She needs to know what they're up against."

Gail felt nauseous. She knew full well what they were up against. But now Chuck was telling her that he'd actually seen her worst fear realized. "Does everything you guys see come true?" Gail asked Chuck and Kevin desperately. "Haven't you ever been wrong?"

Kevin and Chuck were looking at each other. They didn't know what to say. Neither could remember an occasion where they had been wrong, though things had not always turned out exactly the way they'd originally envisioned them.

Gail could see the looks on their faces. "Never mind, guys. I can see what you're trying not to tell me." She had been apprehensive about the verdict before, but now she was terrified.

Chuck put his hand on her arm. "I'm sorry, but there's more, Gail."

"Chuck..." Kevin started to say. Chuck had told Kevin about this a while back, one Prophet to another, but he wasn't so sure Chuck should be telling Gail about it. There was nothing she could do about it, and it would devastate her.

Gail reluctantly raised her eyes to look at Chuck. Oh, God, she didn't want to hear this. "What?" she asked, bracing herself.

"Jason forces you to watch, and the executioner is Metatron," Chuck said quietly.

What? Gail was so shocked by what Chuck was saying that she couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Chuck, how can you say that to her?" Becky scolded him. "That's just mean. And it's impossible. Metatron's in Hell, where he belongs." It had hurt her when Chuck said what he said to Gail. Didn't he remember that Metatron was the one who had killed Gail in Las Vegas? How could he be so insensitive?

But Chuck wasn't being insensitive, at least not on purpose. Having the vision had given him no pleasure, and telling Gail about it made him feel like crap. But he was thinking about Las Vegas too, and his failure to warn her in time to prevent Metatron's murder of her. That had gnawed at his conscience, and though everything had turned out all right in the end, he felt like he needed to warn her about Metatron's apparent future presence in Heaven. Regardless of what may or may not happen to Cas, Metatron was a threat to Gail, too.

"I know Metatron's in Hell, Becky," Chuck retorted, a bit more sharply than he'd intended. But he saw the stricken look on Gail's face and he felt badly enough without Becky adding her two cents.

"Then how could he be here, executing Cas?" Kevin retorted. The moment it was out of his mouth, he wanted to take it back. Kevin had been angry at Chuck for speaking to Becky that way, but one look at Gail's face and Kevin felt like hell. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said quietly.

She'd been feeling for days that she was going to lose it, and it seemed that now was going to be the time. Gail looked at her three Angel friends, arguing over Chuck's vision and the specifics of it. Who cared? They were talking about Cas being put to death almost as if it were an intellectual exercise, a puzzle to be solved. And while Gail had been shocked to hear Metatron's name mentioned as Castiel's executioner, she realized she wasn't even particularly surprised. Metatron and Crowley, Crowley and Metatron. Wasn't it usually one or the other trying to kill her and Castiel? And really, who gave a damn? It could be the Pope for all she cared. The bottom line was they were going to execute Cas, she was going to be made to watch, and then they were going to expect her to go on living. Or, were they?

"Good, I'm glad it's going to be Metatron!" she yelled at Chuck. "Then he can do the job right on me, after it's over!" Then she ran out of the library and went back to the prison. Ethan was going to have to let her in to see Castiel, or he was going to have to kill her right then and there. She was done.

Ethen had let her in to see Castiel, of course. She told Ethan about her visit to the library to see Chuck and when Ethan asked her how the ABH meeting went, Gail trusted him enough to give him the highlights. She did not mention Chuck's vision, but she begged him to let her in to see Castiel and Ethan didn't have the heart to refuse. Ethan had had a bad feeling about the way this was going to end up for the couple ever since Jason's abrupt exit from the prison earlier, and Gail's panic was contagious.

"I'll take you right in," Ethan told her, and as he rose, Gail put her hand on his arm. "You won't get in trouble, will you?" she asked him. As desperate as she felt to see Cas, she didn't want to be the cause of any more trouble.

Ethan shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it," he assured her. Actually, he WAS a little worried about it; he still didn't know if there would be any repercussions from what had happened earlier. But Ethan found he didn't care, not really. The worst he's probably receive was a reprimand. Castiel was probably going to lose his life, and it would probably be soon. If Ethan could helpt them spend just a bit more time together, he would, he thought. Screw Jason, and screw Xavier.

The look on Castiel's face when Ethan brought Gail back to his cell made the risk worthwhile, and as Ethan opened the cell door, he started to tell Gail that he'd collect her in about an hour or so, but she put her hand on his arm again.

"Ethan, thanks so much for all your help, but I'm staying here till you come and get me in the morning when your shift is over. If you want me out of here sooner, you'll have to send Jason in to come fetch me." And Gail meant it. After what she'd just heard from Chuck, there was no way she was going to leave here tonight.

After a moment, Ethan said, "OK, Gail. OK. I'll come get you in the morning." Then he sighed and walked back down the corridor.

Gail turned to Cas, who was looking at her with a peculiar expression. He was delighted to see her again so soon, but he was also puzzled. He could tell that she was upset, and he asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing," she said airily. "What could possibly be wrong?" She was damned if she was going to tell him about Chuck's vision. What possible benefit could there be in subjecting him to the visual images she was suffering from now? Wasn't Heaven subjecting him to enough as it was? "I just missed your face," she said to him, putting on a smile.

She touched his face then, and though he had his doubts about why she was really here and what had upset her, Gail said no more and Castiel realized he didn't care. They sat on his bunk together and talked until the morning, but Castiel's possible death sentence was never mentioned.

After everyone had convened in the hearing room, Ignatius rapped his gavel for order.

"Settle down, everyone," he said sternly. "We've got a lot to get through today."

As the room fell silent, Xavier rose to his feet.

"Actually, we don't," he said almost cheerfully. "I hereby waive Counts 8, 9 and 10, and respectfully request the board's decision."

Bedlam. Chuck, Kevin and Ethan all looked at each other incredulously. What the hell was the rush all of a sudden? But they knew, of course.

Gail put her hand on Castiel's arm. "Tell them you want to call some witnesses." She'd told him the night before that Kevin was willing to testify on his behalf, at least. That would buy them a bit of time, and then maybe they could think of something else.

Castiel stood. "I wish to call a witness," he said.

Xavier looked at him and smiled. "Sorry, Castiel, you are not running this hearing, I am."

"Be that as it may," Castiel said, adopting Xavier's formal tone, "I am the senior member, and I wish to present evidence."

Xavier turned to Ignatius. "The tribunal rules prohibit the applicant from calling witnesses."

Gail couldn't believe it. But Xavier had lied before. "He's got to be kidding!" she said aloud. Oh, what the hell. "Or he's lying. Again."

Xavier turned around and fixed her with a glare. Jason was right; this girl needed to shut her mouth. Who did she think she was?

"I can assure you it's neither," he said tartly, turning back to Ignatius. "If you check the rule book, you'll see that it's clear on this matter."

Ignatius considered this. They'd just gotten started, but he supposed he'd better. He wanted to run a fair hearing.

"Recess for 15 minutes," Ignatius announced. Then he remembered that the rulebook was written in the ancient language. "Better make it half an hour," he amended. Then he rapped his gavel and the board members rose and went into the chambers room.

Castiel sat down and he and Gail looked at each other, stunned. What were they supposed to do now?

"I don't trust the board," Gail said. "Are we supposed to just take their word for it?"

"Do we have a choice?" Castiel said bitterly.

"Maybe," Gail mused. She made eye contact with Chuck in the gallery, and he rose and made a motion to the exit. She smiled. It looked like they were thinking the same thing.

"I'll be right back," Gail said, and she walked down the aisle and out of the hearing room.

Chuck met her in the hallway. "We'll have to be quick," Gail said, and they hurried to the library. He gave her the ancient book and she winked into the bunker.

"So you're saying they're right?" Gail asked Sam.

He sighed, sitting back in his chair. "Looks like it," he said, frowning. "If I had more time, I could be sure, but it looks like Cas can only ask witnesses questions, and only because he's a board member. But he can't call any of his own. He can't even put on a defense, because it's a tribunal, not a trial."

Gail stamped her foot in frustration. "Semantics? Really? They're going to put him to death and you're giving me semantics?"

Sam looked at her grimly.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I don't mean to yell at you, I was just hoping..." Her eyes started to fill with tears.

Dean had been pacing the floor while Sam scanned the book, and now he grabbed one of the chairs and threw it against the wall. Damn those Angel bastards! He was so angry he felt like he could spit nails.

"I'm sorry, Gail, I wish there was something we could do," Sam said. He was frustrated, too.

"I know, Sam. Thanks for trying." She walked over to the table and picked up the book, looking at it in disgust. "I'd better go. Come here, give me my hug."

Sam rose and gave her a brief hug. Then Gail walked over to where Dean stood and put her hand on his shoulder. "I know exactly how you feel," she said, kissing him on the cheek. He looked at her darkly, and she sighed. There was nothing they could say to each other at this point, and she had to get the book back to the library and then get back to the hearing room before the recess was over. So she winked out of the bunker, wondering when and if she would ever see the brothers again.

Gail shook her head at Castiel, telling him what Sam had said, and a moment later the board came back to the dais and Ignatius confirmed that Xavier was right.

Gail was wild, desperate. She had to delay the verdict as long as she could. So she stood up and said, "I want to go back on the stand."

Castiel looked up at her. Was she crazy? He put his hand on her arm. "What are you doing?" he said.

She leaned down to him. "If all you can do is ask questions, then ask me some questions," she said insistently.

Xavier looked at Gail. He knew what she was trying to do. Why should he accommodate her? He'd already asked all his questions, and she'd already confessed to her Count 7 charge. "I have no further use for that witness," he told Ignatius, waving his hand towards Gail. He had chosen his words carefully. Jason smirked.

Gail sat back down, glaring at them. She'd been hoping that Xavier would want another crack at her on the stand, and then she could answer some softball questions from Castiel and try to portray him in a better light. But Xavier had not risen to the bait, and now they were screwed.

Cas took her hand. "Thank you for trying," he said sadly. He knew what she'd been attempting to do and he appreciated her willingness to subject herself to Xavier's questioning again on his behalf.

Ignatius rapped his gavel again. "If there is nothing further..." he said, almost as if expecting another interruption. But none was forthcoming. Cas and Gail were out of time, and they were out of ideas. They looked at each other helplessly.

"The hearing is adjourned. The board will confer," Ignatius said. The board members went into the chambers room, Xavier trailing behind them.

Some of the Angels in the gallery left, but most stayed in their seats. No one knew how long it was going to take for the board to reach a decision, but if they left, they might miss it.

Gail stared at Castiel, wide-eyed. She was terrified. They were going to come back quickly, she just had a feeling, and it wasn't going to be good news.

Cas had the same sinking feeling, and he was not only worried about himself, but about her, too. He took her hands in his. He was trying to think of something encouraging to say, maybe something lighthearted that would make her smile, but a lump was forming in his throat and no words would come.

Gail could see how Cas was feeling, and she tried to think of something to say to push the elephant out of the room, but it wouldn't leave, and she gave up. Who were they trying to fool? They both knew how the verdict was going to go.

The deliberations were going fairly smoothly. All of the board members agreed that Castiel was guilty on the Counts under which Xavier had presented evidence. However, a couple of them were balking when it came to the death penalty.

"But his offenses are egregious," Xavier argued to Daniel, Gregory and Ignatius.

Daniel tended to agree, but: "Assessing the death penalty seems extreme," he mused aloud.

"I disagree," Alexander said, and Lanister nodded in agreement with him. "Look at how many of our number he has murdered over the years."

"Yes, but he was fighting in the Angel war," Gregory said.

"We're not talking about that," Xavier said. "We're talking about the murder of innocents."

Jason was leaning against the wall by the chambers door, and he smirked at that. Xavier had asked him to come into the chambers room; in case the board needed any more convincing, he was going to have Jason talk to them about Castiel and their violent history together. It would be Xavier's way of sneaking in a little more testimony without Jason having to be subjected to examination by Castiel himself. He'd brought Jason in under the guise of extra security, and the board members had bought it.

Innocents, Jason thought. There were very few innocents left in Heaven in his opinion; none in this room, that was for sure. This same board had already executed two Angels with their past verdicts. At what point was murder not murder? When you had the title and the seniority, he guessed. Jason himself had killed just as many Angels as Castiel had over the years, many of them in sadistic and creative ways, yet he would be alive next week and Castiel would not. Jason hoped not, anyway. As for his mouthy little Angel girlfriend, Jason was less sure. He figured the board would not go so far as to put her to death for one measly murder and a morals violation. Too bad. But if she went to prison, he could visit her any time he chose. And he would. He was still owed.

Even Daniel and Gregory had to admit that Xavier had a point, and so did Ignatius. And Raphael's testimony had been very persuasive. Though he had behaved dishonourably afterwards, the Archangel's testimony had been conclusive. While it disturbed Ignatius still that Castiel had not been allowed to ask Raphael any questions at the time, he could not see how that could have made a difference. And Castiel's own testimony had been damning. Ignatius remained a bit leery of the mysterious Affidavit that had been produced, but he had read it in its entirety and the attestations in it had been damning as well.

Still, Ignatius hesitated. "Call the vote," he said. Maybe he'd see how the others voted, and then make up his mind.

"Guilty," each board member said, and Ignatius agreed.

"Sentence? Call the vote," he said.

"Death," Xavier said.

"Death," said Alexander.

"Death," said Lanister.

Gregory frowned, but said "Death."

Daniel sighed, looking at his fellow board members. They all seemed to have their minds made up, and he wanted to stand with his colleagues. "Death," he said softly.

That left only Ignatius to vote. He knew that the vote had to be unanimous, or the death penalty could not be imposed. What he did not know was what would happen if he cast a dissenting vote. That had never happened in the history of the proceeding; the board had always come to an immediate consensus. This was the first time Ignatius had felt uneasy about imposing the death sentence, and he wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was because he had known and served with Castiel for so long, and regardless of what he might think about Castiel personally or about his association with the humans, Ignatius was aware that his Brother had always been a favourite of God's. Not Bobby Singer; the original God, the only Father that Ignatius had ever known or wanted to serve. But God had now retired, and Heaven was facing this crisis as a result. Ignatius never thought he would see the day when his Father would retire. Truth be told, Ignatius had his doubts about how suitable Brother Xavier would be for the High Office, but he was certainly the only viable candidate, in Ignatius's opinion. They had also served together for many years, and shared many of the same opinions. And Xavier had been very persuasive in presenting his case. Ignatius had been shocked by some of the things he had heard, and he had witnessed Castiel's violent behaviour himself. An Angel that unstable wasn't fit to be God, nor fit to be around other Angels. That decided him.

"Death," Ignatius sighed.

And Jason's face broke into a grin.

Gail couldn't stand the tension any more. She had been trying to think of something to say that would take their minds away from the grimness of the situation, if only for a moment. But every subject that she could think of to broach had the potential to cause pain. If she talked about Sam and Dean, they would be reminded that Cas would probably never see them again. If she talked about Las Vegas or Vancouver, they would realize that the happiness and sense of freedom that they'd felt in both places had been fleeting and would never happen again. And if she talked about that kiss, they'd be all too aware that its meaning was ultimately unimportant if Cas would soon be dead. Even if he were to receive the relative gift of a long prison sentence, they would be separated. It didn't matter to Gail what the board decided about her. If she was free to go, where would she go? What would she do? And if she received her own prison sentence, they'd be in separate cells in separate wings. Could prisoners visit each other? she thought, with very little humour.

But honestly, who was she kidding? Deep down, she knew that if Castiel continued to be a prisoner, it wouldn't be for long. She had scrutinized the faces of the board members, and she had seen no compassion or understanding there, none whatsoever.

She and Cas continued to hold each other's hands, and one tear squeezed out of her eye and rolled down her cheek. "Don't," he said softly, reaching up and wiping the tear away with his thumb. "Please." Crying had become such a natural state for her by now that she hadn't even been aware she was doing it. What a sad commentary on how bad their lives had become.

Aurielle was watching Castiel, as she always did, and she saw him touch Gail's face. How Aurielle wished that was her face he was touching. She was having a rare moment of clarity, and Aurielle now realized that Castiel was never going to be God. Not with all of the things that he'd done. Even if she could excuse him, the board wouldn't. But she refused to even consider the possibility that he could be put to death. He would likely just remain in prison, and if she'd gotten in to see him once, she could do so again. And Gail would be nowhere in sight. Aurielle touched her own face, imagining it was Castiel's hand there. She'd visit him every day if she could. They'd have all the time in the world.

Chuck was watching Aurielle watch Castiel, and he nudged Kevin. He'd finally told Kevin about her, and the danger he felt she represented. If they were lucky and Cas escaped the death penalty, Aurielle would bear watching, and Chuck couldn't be everywhere. So he'd confided in Kevin, asking him not to mention Chuck's concerns to Becky. Chuck still wasn't sure where Becky stood on the subject of Aurielle, and really, neither was Kevin. Chuck figured maybe he'd better let Ethan in on his suspicions as well. He could just picture Aurielle buzzing around the prison, trying to get to Castiel once they pulled him and Gail apart. It didn't take a Prophetic vision to see that happening; all you had to do was look at her.

Now that the board had ruled on Castiel, Ignatius called the subject of the Angel Gail. He'd thought that the issue might be a bit more contentious, and he had been right.

"I still don't understand why you dropped the Count 6 charge," Lanister said to Xavier resentfully. "I did not hear Castiel plead guilty to all charges, as you had promised he would do in exchange."

"I believed that he would," Xavier said smoothly. "Obviously, his word cannot be trusted. But it doesn't matter now. We have already assessed his penalty."

"Well, if he didn't keep his word, why should you keep yours?" Lanister argued. "I say we vote on that charge as well, and affix the penalty as death." It had been his son who Gail had killed, and Lanister wanted his pound of flesh.

"I understand how you must feel, Lanister," Daniel said, "but I cannot agree."

Lanister glared at him. "You do not understand how I feel, Daniel. You have no children. And now, thanks to her, neither do I."

"I agree with Brother Lanister," Alexander said, nodding to him in support. "I vote death for her for Count 6."

"No," Daniel protested. "I will not do it."

"I agree," Gregory said. "Females are not killers by nature."

Jason smirked again. These guys had obviously not been in the Angel war. He was finding this enjoyable to watch, and the power to decide whether others should live or die appealed to him. Maybe when this was all over, he'd ask Xavier for a seat on the board. With Castiel dead, there would be a vacancy on the board, and Jason could fill it. When he wasn't torturing and killing for Xavier, that was.

Xavier was also smiling inwardly. If Daniel and Gregory had read the Prophecies, they might be singing a different tune. Gail had killed the witch Rowena in a most spectacular fashion, and she had killed her own brother. Oh, and let's not forget about Metatron. They could ask him themselves what it felt like to die at her hand. He was still locked up in Heaven, just waiting for Xavier to spring him on the board.

But this debate was going to bog things down, and now that Xavier had gotten what he wanted regarding Castiel, he could afford to be magnanimous.

"I can see that the decision will not be unanimous on the death penalty for her, so we may as well just drop the subject," Xavier said.

Ignatius was relieved. He could not have voted for death for the Angel Gail either. He still saw his daughter Felicia when he looked at her sometimes, and he could never have lived with himself. He supposed it was only fair that they vote on Count 6, though. She had killed one of Jason's men, who happened to have been Brother Lanister's son, and she should be punished for that with a prison term. But he felt they should drop the Count 7 charge against her. She and Castiel had been humans when the offenses had occurred, so they had not technically broken Heaven's laws. He broached this subject now.

Xavier frowned, but he did not want another protracted discussion to ensue. Now that they had Count 6 back on the table, he was reluctantly willing to let Count 7 go. Quite frankly, he had just gone after her on that to upset Castiel. He told himself he didn't care what disgusting acts they had committed in Las Vegas as humans. They'd certainly never have the opportunity to commit them again. If Xavier had his way, and he would, Castiel would be dead by the week's end.

"Fine," Xavier said. "Then I will agree to drop Count 7, and propose we vote on Count 6."

The board members all agreed that Gail was guilty on Count 6. All that remainded to be decided was the length of her prison sentence.

"I propose a term of 5 years," Xavier said to his fellow board members. In truth, he didn't expect her to last nearly that long. He would talk to Lanister privately later, and if he didn't have the stomach to sanction an "accident" for her, there was always Metatron. Or Jason, for that matter. He knew his friend was dying to have another crack at her. They had talked right after Castiel had chased Jason out of the prison, and Jason had shown Xavier the slash mark on his arm that she had inflicted. Xavier did not care if Jason were to exact some revenge on her with his blade. Maybe that would prove effective to finally shut that smart mouth of hers.

Lanister was still dissatisfied with the short prison term proposed, but he was also thinking he would talk privately to Xavier afterwards. He just wanted this whole thing to go away so he and his wife could begin to properly mourn their son. He would do everything in his power to make sure Gail served some hard time. Lanister was also thinking of Jason.

"If I agree to such a short term, I would ask one thing in return," Lanister said to Xavier.

"What's that, Brother Lanister?" Xavier asked.

"I want her to winess Castiel's execution," Lanister said bitterly. "Let her see how it feels to have someone you love die."

If Xavier had been the least bit sympathetic to Gail, he might have pointed out that she had seen plenty of people she loved die in the past year alone. But instead, he smiled at Lanister and then looked at Jason. "That will be arranged," Xavier said.

So the board voted on a 5-year prison term for Gail on Count 6, and verdicts in hand, Ignatius led them back into the hearing room.

As the board took their seats on the dais, Castiel squeezed Gail's hands once, hard. It hurt, but she barely noticed. Nothing could hurt as much as the pain she felt in her heart right now. Or so she thought.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, and she shook her head. It was nothing, her eyes said. She didn't care how hard he squeezed; she wasn't letting go of him until they made her.

One of the Angels nearest the door in the gallery had poked her head out and said, "They're coming back," and the spectators streamed in, taking their seats.

Ignatius waited a minute for everyone to settle in, then rapped his gavel.

"Will the Angels Castiel and Gail rise," Ignatius said.

Cas and Gail stood, still clasping hands. He disengaged one hand and brushed back a strand of hair from her face, smiling in encouragement. Then they turned to face the dais.

"In the matter of Count 7 for the Angel Gail," Ignatius announced. Here it came, Gail thought. She closed her eyes for a moment and braced herself.

"The Count 7 charge is dropped," Ignatius continued.

Gail's heart leapt in her chest. She was free! Many Angels in the gallery cheered and clapped, and Chuck and Kevin pumped their fists.

Aurielle glared at Ignatius, then at Gail. So she would not be a prisoner. No matter. Aurielle had other ideas about Gail.

Ignatius rapped his gavel several times, calling for order. Castiel looked at Gail and smiled again. "There you go," he said, using her phrase, and he kissed her on the cheek. "Congratulations." She was happy for herself, but she could not smile back. Just because the board had gone easy on her did not mean that they would do the same for Castiel.

But Ignatius had a surprise for them.

"In the matter of Count 6 for the Angel Gail - " he started to say, but Castiel interrupted him.

"Count 6?" Cas shouted, bewildered and angry. He looked at Xavier, who was smiling calmly. "You agreed to drop the Count 6 charge against her!"

"You did not fulfill your part of the bargain, Castiel," Xavier shot back.

"Nor did you! You made her testify!" Castiel let go of Gail's hand and walked over to where Xavier stood. Xavier knew Castiel could do nothing to him here, so he stood his ground. "You're a liar," Castiel seethed, resisting the urge to just reach out and choke the life out of him.

"As are you," Xavier retorted. "Go ahead and attack me, Castiel. We know that's your answer for everything."

"Return to your place, Castiel," Ignatius ordered.

Gail supposed it didn't matter now if Castiel attacked Xavier or not, and a large part of her actually wanted to see him do it. But she didn't want to receive her verdict on the most serious charge alone, so she said, "Please come here, Cas. I need you."

Well, if she was going to put it that way, he had no choice but to turn his back on Xavier and return to her, reclaiming her hand.

"I'm sorry," he said to her softly. He'd obviously screwed this up too, and now she was going to be sentenced for murder.

Gail shook her head again. What did it matter, really?

"In the matter of Count 6," Ignatius said again, "the Angel Gail is sentenced to 5 years in prison."

Wow, Gail thought. 5 years. Well, it could have been a lot worse, she supposed. Still...5 years was a long enough time. She couldn't see Sam and Dean for 5 years? That was an eternity in human time. Would they move on, forget all about her? If Bobby were to return soon, could he release her? And what about Castiel?

"In the matter of the Angel Castiel," Ignatius said, as if reading her mind, "his offenses are numerous, and serious in nature. After thoughtful deliberation, I regret that the board has no choice but to find him guilty on all Counts save for 7, and we affix the sentence as death."

Now the hearing room was in total disarray, and no amount of gavel-pounding on Ignatius's part could silence the uproar, so he ceased trying.

Even though she'd pretty much expected it, the shock hit Gail like a wave and her knees buckled. Castiel caught her before she hit the floor, and he kept his arms around her, as much for support for himself as for her. He had expected it too, but now that the verdict had actually been pronounced, the human part of him was in denial about it. Were they really going to do this to him? To them? He didn't want to die, and he didn't see why he should have to, not like this.

He eased Gail into her chair and moved his chair as close as he could to hers, continuing to hold on to her. And now she was supposed to go to prison, for 5 years, on a charge she wasn't even supposed to be sentenced for. Could he break them out somehow? He wished Sam and Dean were able to come here to help. But if he and Gail were to miraculously effect an escape, what could they do? Where could they go that was safe? And there was Jason. They'd be back to the same situation they'd been in before they'd surrendered themselves. But Cas would be alive, and he would be with her. Maybe they could stay with Sam and Dean. The four of them were strong as a unit. Then let Jason try.

But Jason could see Castiel's wheels spinning, and he came forward now with two of his deputies. They had handcuffs and shackles. Jason grabbed Castiel by the arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Don't touch him!" Gail shouted, and she bolted from her chair and slapped Jason across the face, as hard as she could. The sound of the blow echoed through the hearing room.

Jason looked at her in astonishment and anger. He couldn't believe she'd just done that. Did she have any idea who he was, what he'd done to people for much less?

Jason withdrew his blade and slashed blindly at Gail, cutting her multiple times. Castiel grabbed Jason's wrist and bent it back, hearing the crack of the bone as it broke, and Castiel seized the blade from Jason's hand. The deputies rushed forward to subdue him, but he ran the blade through one, then the other, killing them. While this was going on, Jason had retreated, running out of the hearing room to get reinforcements.

Castiel looked at the Angels he had just killed, then at the blade in his hand. What had he just done? Now they'd forced him to become the killer he'd been painted to be in this very room. He'd wanted to kill Jason, the one who really deserved it, but Jason had run off like the coward he was.

He turned back to Gail, who was standing in shock, bleeding from the wounds Jason had inflicted on her. He reached out and touched her with his free hand, healing her. He didn't know what to say to her. He felt as if he should apologize for what he'd done, but he had just reacted without stopping to realize that the deputies were just doing their jobs. It was Jason who had been the threat.

But Jason was gone, and Castiel had a blade now. Should he do what he'd been thinking?

Gail grabbed his hand. "Let's get out of here," she said. Hey, if Heaven wanted them to be Bonnie and Clyde, they'd be Bonnie and Clyde. She was not going to stay here and watch them put the love of her life to death.

But as they ran down the aisle to the hearing room door and freedom, Jason came back into the room with half a dozen Law Enforcement Angels, and they all had blades out. They were blocking the way to the hallway and Gail looked past them longingly. If they could only get out there, they could be gone. But it was impossible. Two Angels seized Gail, and Jason pointed the new blade he was holding at her face with his good hand. "Give me a reason, Castiel," Jason said almost happily. "She and I could be mirror images." He pointed to the scars on his own face, scars from the wounds Castiel had inflicted on Jason during their first confrontation on Earth. Jason had never bothered to have his face healed. He wore the scars to remind himself of the need to always stay vigilant.

"Up to you," Jason smiled, putting the tip of the blade against Gail's cheek. Castiel dropped his blade immediately. Jason had won.

The Angels moved forward and shackled Castiel. They'd brought an extra set for Gail, and when one of them hesitated, Jason took the cuffs from him and put them on her himself, making sure that they were nice and tight. His broken wrist throbbed, but he barely felt it in his pleasure at hurting her. Gail winced at the pain, and Castiel looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry," he said to her again.

"Hey, we had to try," she said, gritting her teeth against the pain. "And you have nothing to be sorry for. It's them. You're not wrong, they are."

"Interesting, since it's you two who are going to prison," Jason said. "Well, at least temporarily," he smirked at Castiel. "But don't worry. When you're gone, I'll be visiting your girlfriend. A lot."

Castiel struggled, but of course, it was no use. My God, he thought, I should have killed Jason in my cell last night. He was terrified to think of Jason entering Gail's prison cell and cutting her to pieces. And there would be nothing Castiel could do about it, even if he was still alive by then. Tears sprang to his eyes, but he could not show weakness in front of Jason, so he choked them back.

Gail was not crying, but her eyes were wide with terror. She and Castiel would both be dead this week, because she'd throw herself in front of Castiel as Metatron raised the knife. She totally believed Chuck's vision now, and she could see no way out.

Bobby was having a good day, and he could see hope for his recovery on the horizon.

He'd always been skeptical about the psychiatric profession, but he had tried to go into this with an open mind. This wasn't like before, when he'd been a human man. When Bobby had lost his ability to walk and then his will to live, he had tried seeing a psychiatrist then, as a last-ditch effort to save himself. No one knew about that, of course; Bobby had had his secrets in life. But the guy he had gone to see had just kept asking HIM what HE thought. He was paying this quack a few hundred dollars for a 50-minute session, and he had no advice to offer. So Bobby had walked out.

But here he was again, of his own free will, and Bobby had to make it work this time. There was a lot riding on this. Cas was depending on him to take Heaven back, and Bobby knew he didn't have much time.

So he'd talked to the doctor they'd assigned him, really opened up this time, and if nothing else, the confidences he was sharing were unburdening his soul. He couldn't tell the doctor everything, of course, but enough bad stuff had happened in Bobby's life as a human that he didn't have to whitewash it too much. His father had been an abusive alcoholic, and his mother had been a submissive woman whose misguided love for her husband had led her to commit suicide over his dead body rather than face the prospect of having to live without him. Bobby's wife had died, and even though Bobby couldn't tell the doctor what had really happened to her, that was tragic enough. They had been childless, much to his regret, but then John Winchester had died and along came Sam and Dean as surrogate sons to fill the void. And then there had been Rowena. He could certainly call her a witch to this guy, he smiled to himself; the doctor would just think that it was a euphimism. He couldn't say what there had been about her that had gotten to him so much. And he really couldn't tell the doctor why he had kept his relationship with her a secret from the boys, and from Cas. Well, he could, but not without explaining who he had really been, and he couldn't do that, of course. Imagine the doctor's face if Bobby told him that he and the Winchesters were Hunters, Cas was an Angel, and Rowena was the mother of the King of Hell. They'd throw him in the padded room and swallow the key.

But the sessions seemed to be helping, and Bobby was seeing less and less of Lucifer already. Maybe he'd just needed to unburden himself, let go of his residual guilt. He'd had a lot to feel guilty about in life, but Bobby had just kept taking more and more on his shoulders until the weight of it had nearly crushed him. That was what Dean often did, Bobby thought, and that was why Dean was so screwed up. Bobby loved him like a son, but they were going to have a heart-to-heart after all this was over. Dean would have to learn how to let go of some of his own guilt before it consumed him, as it had done with Bobby. And the answer wasn't at the bottom of a bottle. Bobby should know; he'd looked plenty for it there, only to wind up here.

Sam was a bit more inscrutable. Bobby didn't know if that was better or worse. Dean wore his pain on his sleeve, whereas Sam's was buried deep. Sam had been in Lucifer's cage himself, and he had also come back crazy. So he and Bobby had that awful fact in common. But Bobby had never quite understood Sam, probably because he was so closed off. Had he always been like that, and his time in the cage had just exacerbated that part of Sam's personality?

When Bobby got out of here, he would have to have a long talk with both Winchester brothers, and the first item on the agenda would be for Bobby to come clean about his relationship with Rowena. And Cas and Gail should be there, too, if they were able, he thought worriedly.

Which brought him back to the urgency of the present situation. If Bobby didn't cure himself soon, Cas would be dead, and then Bobby would have that two-ton weight of guilt to deal with. Gail, Dean and Sam would never forgive him, and he would never forgive himself. But an insane Angel couldn't be God, so that was why Bobby had come here. If Cas could hang on just a little longer, Bobby was convinced he'd be better by next week, and then he would re-take the job of God.

But Castiel did not have that long.

After the scene he and Gail had caused in the hearing room following the verdict, the couple had been hauled off to prison. Jason had been about to follow, but Xavier held him back.

"Just a minute," Xavier said to Jason. Then Xavier turned to Ignatius. It had all happened so fast that the board still remained in their seats, and the Angels were still in the gallery too, shocked into silence by what they'd just seen.

"Now you see the danger Castiel represents," Xavier said loudly, pointing to the bodies of the Angels Cas had killed just minutes ago. "I move that his sentence be carried out first thing tomorrow morning."

Ignatius felt a momentary sense of panic. So soon? But he looked down at the bodies of the young bailiffs, and Ignatius felt angry, and sad. There had been no need for them to die. They couldn't risk any more deaths. Metatron had once escaped from Heaven's prison, and he had not been nearly as desperate and as dangerous as Castiel would be now. He and Gail had been about to escape, and if Jason had not saved the day, Ignatius was sure they would have succeeded. Castiel could not be allowed to try again.

He sighed. "Agreed."

Jason smiled at Xavier as the hearing room cleared. "Well played," he said to his friend. "I assume this most pleasurable task will go to me?"

"Yes, Jason. You are the senior Officer," Xavier agreed. There had not been an Executioner in Heaven for a number of years. There had been no need for one. But Jason was fully capable of doing the job, and Xavier knew it would please his friend. He had been loyal to Xavier all these years and deserved a reward. He reached forward and healed Jason's broken wrist. Xavier wanted to make sure Jason was at full strength when he delivered the killing blow.

Kevin swept the books off the front desk of the library and they went flying in all directions. "What good are these?" he shouted at Chuck and Becky. "What good is our little group of rebels? We've accomplished nothing! They're killing him tomorrow!"

Chuck's guts were churning. He was just as frustrated and angry as Kevin was, maybe more. He had nothing to say. Kevin was right.

Becky was crying. How could they do this to Castiel? Poor Gail must be devastated. And now Gail was going to prison for 5 years. Everything was falling apart.

Aurielle had gone back to her old cubicle. She didn't know if Becky would be there, and she found she didn't really care one way or the other. It was all over for Aurielle now. The man she loved was going to die tomorrow.

She took the spell book out of her bottom drawer and began to scan the pages. Was there anything in here that would help Castiel? Could she maybe put a hex on the Executioner, or the prison guards? But all of these spells needed ingredients, and time, and she had neither of those things. She paused at the spell on the last page. It was the reanimation spell, the same one Rowena had used to resurrect Crowley, though of course Aurielle had no knowledge of this. The spell was very complex, and it required a lot of weird things. Could that be done? Aurielle's twisted and heartbroken psyche whispered to her that maybe it could. It was the only thing she had to cling to. If his vessel were to be interred in Heaven, and if she could somehow manage to get the ingredients, Aurielle could bring him back. And then he would be hers forever.

Xavier knocked on the door of the alcove, and Metatron opened it to admit him into the room.

"Sorry I haven't had the chance to redecorate," Metatron said cheerfully. "I presume you're here with good news?"

"Yes, the death sentence has been pronounced, and Castiel will be executed tomorrow morning," Xavier confirmed.

Metatron was impressed. Xavier and the board sure didn't screw around. He was also excited. While he'd been cooling his heels in here, Metatron had come up with his own plan, a better one. He'd been looking at the cabinet which held the vial with God's powers in it. That cabinet required the hands of two separate Originals to be placed on it to open it. Metatron knew that was why Xavier had brought him here, and soon would be bringing Castiel here in chains to join Metatron in opening the cabinet. Then Xavier would have the vial, and Castiel would then be executed in the morning. But could Xavier be trusted to live up to his end of the bargain regarding Metatron? Once Xavier had ingested God's powers, he could do whatever he wanted. If he double-crossed Metatron, there would be nothing Metatron could do about it, Original or not. Originals may trump regular Angels, but God trumped all. And even if Xavier remained true to his word, did Metatron really want to be Xavier's lapdog? Why be just another one of God's underlings when you could be God yourself?

He'd have to be very careful about it, but it could be done. Metatron realized now that he had been foolish in the past. In his eagerness to get what he wanted, he was sometimes too rash and impulsive. He needed to be more like Crowley, Metatron realized. Though he would never tell him that, of course. Crowley may be a bit too full of himself, and though his schemes hadn't always worked out either, they were well planned and executed with finesse. Crowley took his time sometimes, but he was the King of his domain for a reason. Metatron needed to follow his example if he hoped to pull this off.

But there was something he wanted first, and he would have it. In Metatron's mind, he was owed it.

"I want to be the one to execute Castiel," he told Xavier.

Xavier looked at him incredulously. Had Metatron's stint in Hell unhinged his mind? "Sorry, Metatron. As I believe the humans would say, that's not going to happen."

"Why not?" Metatron retorted angrily. "What do you care?"

"I am not prepared for you to come out from hiding yet," Xavier answered him. "With all that's been going on, I haven't had the chance to discuss your presence with the board yet." And one hell of a conversation that would have been, Xavier thought, smiling inwardly. But Metatron had been right; Xavier had not intention of going to the board about him. Xavier had briefly considered it, but then he realized that once he had used Metatron to help him get the vial, he didn't need him any more, nor did he want him here in Heaven. Once Xavier was God, he would simply have Jason kill Metatron and then cast him back into Hell, where he belonged.

"I'll wear a hood, then," Metatron said, smiling. "The classic Executioner look." The more he thought about plunging that blade into Castiel, the more he was salivating to do it.

"No," Xavier said shortly. Metatron was starting to get on his nerves. What part of "no" didn't he understand? And Xavier had promised the honour to Jason.

Now Metatron was mad. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Metatron was hanging around with the original God, the real one, when Xavier's mother was wiping the snot from his nose.

"Oh, I think the answer will be yes," Metatron told Xavier, his eyes narrowing, "or I tell the board all about your close and ongoing relationship with the King of Hell. I was there for those meetings and conversations, remember?"

Xavier was startled, but he really shouldn't have been. He certainly didn't want the board finding out about the lengths he'd gone to, and the depths to which he had sunk, to successfully prosecute Castiel.

"How are you going to do that when you're locked up in here?" Xavier said suspiciously.

"I'm an Original, have you forgotten?" Metatron said, smiling. "I'm not 'locked up'. I can go wherever I please." He vanished from sight, then reappeared a few seconds later. "See?" he taunted Xavier.

Xavier was a little scared now. He knew that Originals could do things that ordinary Angels couldn't, even himself, but how had Metatron done that? This room was coated in sigils and had other protections. But then, the sigils hadn't worked on Raphael in the hearing room, either. Did these high-level Angels have the strength to overcome them somehow? But that made no sense, either. Castiel was an Original, yet he was powerless against sigils, it seemed.

"That's right," Metatron said, as if reading his mind, "there are a lot of mysterious things about us Originals, and some of us have more powers than others." He was enjoying the look on Xavier's face. But, back to business. "So what's it gonna be, Xavier?"

Xavier sighed. "All right, Metatron. You win. But you'll have to wear a hood." He'd just have to tell Jason that the board had decided to use a professional Executioner, and Jason would just have to get over it. He'd still have the Angel Gail to play with after Castiel was gone, Xavier could remind Jason.

"Done," Metatron said cheerfully. He thought that would be kind of cool, actually. Very old-school. He moved closer to Xavier. "Shake on it," he said, extending his hand.

Xavier looked down at Metatron's hand, then back up at him. He opened his mouth to speak, and that was all that Metatron needed. He hadn't approached Xavier to shake hands. Metatron opened his own mouth, and his soul and his essence forced itself into Xavier through his open mouth. Then Metatron's vessel crumpled to the floor, and Metatron moved Xavier's body to open the door and exited the alcove.

Xavier walked into the prison and spoke to Ethan, who was on duty at the front desk. Ethan looked at Xavier coolly. He supposed he'd better not show open defiance, but he hated this guy now. He didn't know how he was going to cope when Xavier was God. He'd had to come on duty after the horror in the hearing room, but Ethan was going to have a conversation with Chuck and Kevin about how he felt. If they were planning a rebellion, he was on board.

"Take me to Castiel's cell," Xavier ordered him.

Ethan was disgusted. It was the guy's last night of life. Hadn't Xavier tormented him enough? But, maybe his presence here was a positive sign. Ethan had watched a lot of movies on Earth where you thought the execution was going to proceed and then there was some kind of a reprieve. Could this be something like that?

"Let's go," Xavier said, almost cheerfully. "Chop chop."

Ethan rose, but he looked at Xavier curiously. Like many longtime Angels, Xavier had always spoken very formally, and seemed unfamiliar with human colloquialisms.

"Get a move on," Xavier urged, motioning for Ethan to hurry up.

OK, this was really strange, Ethan thought. But Xavier was the boss. So Ethan led Xavier down the corridor towards Castiel's cell, throwing furtive glances at Xavier as they walked.

Metatron was kicking himself. He was supposed to be Xavier, who talked like he had a stick up his butt. He'd better remember that. Although it wouldn't really matter in a minute.

Ethan opened Castiel's cell door and let Xavier in. He was uncertain whether he would be allowed to stay, but he really wanted to know what this was all about. He stood quietly in the corridor.

But to his surprise, Xavier beckoned to him. "Come in."

Ethan entered the cell as Castiel was rising from the bunk. What did Xavier want now? Cas thought angrily. He had been lying quietly on his bunk, looking at Gail's photo and reminiscing. If he could not be allowed to see her on his last night of existence, he at least wanted to imagine that they were back together, happy and free to love each other as they had on the night that this picture had been taken. He'd closed his eyes and could practically feel her touch on his face, and see her smile.

Now, this. Xavier was staring at him in an odd fashion, almost like he hadn't seen Castiel in a long time, and Xavier was smiling.

"What do you want, Xavier?" Castiel said warily.

Metatron was savouring the sight of Castiel in jail; turnabout was indeed fair play. But he'd better get to it while there was no one else around.

"This," he said, and grabbed Ethan, pulling his face towards him as though he were going to kiss him. When Ethan's mouth opened in surprise, Metatron entered the young guard and Xavier's vessel crumpled to the cell floor.

Castiel was shocked, and on high alert. What the hell was this? He tensed, preparing to fight, but Metatron had used Ethan's fingers to touch Castiel's forehead and modify his memory while Metatron still held the element of surprise.

"I'm taking you to see Gail," Ethan said to Castiel, "but we have to be quick."

He'd said the magic words. Castiel had no memory of what had just happened, but he'd just heard what he'd wanted to hear the most from Ethan. Ethan/Metatron hustled Castiel out of the cell fast, so he wouldn't notice Xavier's vessel lying on the floor. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Cas didn't notice it. His brain was befuddled from having his memory modified; he'd never been on the receiving end of one of those before.

"Where are we going?" he asked Ethan. Why were they exiting the prison? Wasn't Gail locked up, too?

"I brought her to another room," Ethan said, "one where you could have more privacy."

Oh. Well, that was OK with Cas. He knew Ethan was on their side and, while he didn't know how the young guard had pulled it off, Castiel trusted him.

As soon as they exited the prison confines, Metatron grabbed Castiel's arm and winked them both to the door of the alcove. He'd left the door wide open when exiting as Xavier; this was a private wing of Heaven and there would be no one around.

"She's in here," Ethan said, urging Castiel into the alcove room.

Castiel looked around curiously. Where was this place? He thought he'd been everywhere in Heaven, but he'd never been here before. He looked around for Gail, but she wasn't here. He did see what looked like a body on the ground, though. As Castiel approached it, he looked down and, though it was crumpled, he thought he recognized..."Metatron?"

Ethan picked the vessel up off the floor. It was limp, like a rag doll. How strange to be holding your own body like this, Metatron thought. Or, at least, the one you'd become accustomed to using all these years. He actually preferred the one he was in now; it was younger and stronger, better-looking, too. But he needed to be in his own vessel to accomplish the task; that was just how the magic worked. So he breathed into the vessel almost like he was blowing up a balloon, and when he was back into himself, he was now holding Ethan's vessel like it was a rag doll.

"Thanks for the ride," he said to it, and breathed both Ethan's and Xavier's essences back into it. Then he put his hand on Ethan's forehead, sending him back to Castiel's cell. Once there, Ethan would breathe Xavier's essence back into him and they would both leave the cell, with no memory of what had just happened. The last thing Xavier would remember was agreeing to let Metatron execute Castiel, and Metatron had also planted a very important false memory in Xavier's mind.

However, Castiel would be missing and they would raise the alarm, so Metatron had to work fast now.

As soon as Castiel had seen who Metatron really was, he had raised his hand to knock Metatron into next week, but the room's sigils prevented his powers from working.

Metatron smiled. Poor Castiel. So strong in so many ways, but rendered powerless by something as basic as sigils. God must have been really pissed off at his alleged favourite Son that day, the day he'd busted Castiel back down to a Private and made him human. Metatron had long wondered how it was that, as a fellow Original, Castiel was lacking some of the powers that Crowley and he himself had. But somehow, Crowley knew, and had told him that God had siphoned some of Castiel's special Original powers out of him when he'd made him human to punish him years ago. And even though Gail had been able to restore his Grace, she could not replace those. Too bad for him.

Metatron conjured chains to bind Castiel's hands and feet before he could get any ideas about attacking Metatron in the human way; that would be a fight that Metatron could never win. Then he approached Castiel and shoved him towards the cabinet, putting Castiel's hand on the right spot.

"Hold that pose," Metatron quipped. "This'll only take a moment."

Castiel struggled, but he couldn't move. Metatron had frozen him in that position while moving around to the other side of the cabinet.

"What are you doing?" Castiel barked. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here in Heaven? How are you even here?"

"Magic, Castiel," Metatron answered happily. "You gotta believe." He put his hand on the spot on the opposite side of the cabinet and the door opened, revealing a glass vial. Metatron grinned. "As our friend Dean would say, 'Yahtzee'," he crowed to Castiel.

Castiel was fuming. He had no idea what was going on here, but if Metatron was involved, it was nothing good.

Metatron grabbed the vial and looked at it for a moment, feeling triumphant, but he realized he'd better conclude this particular transaction right now. He'd gotten himself into trouble in the past by gloating. He walked over to Castiel and said, "Thanks for the assist. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be the one in the black hood."

He'd just said that to see and relish the look of horror on Castiel's face, but Metatron knew he couldn't let it stand. It wouldn't do to have Castiel blurt out his Executioner's identity before the deed was done, and before Metatron had the chance to ingest the vial's contents. Once he did so, he would be God, and no one could touch him.

So he shoved the vial in his pocket and touched Castiel's forehead again, modifying his memory and sending him back to his prison cell, releasing Castiel from the chains at the same time with his other hand.

Metatron was once again alone in the alcove room, and he was deliriously happy. The operation had gone off without a hitch. His hand reached for his pocket, but then he remembered the little lecture he'd given himself about acting on impulse, and he forced his hand away. Now was not the time. Metatron needed to make sure that Castiel was dead first, before he enacted his plan. And quite honestly, Metatron wanted the pleasure of killing Castiel himself, and the fact that it would be a Heaven-sanctioned murder only made it sweeter somehow. The chickens had finally home home to roost for his old enemy, and Metatron only hoped Gail would be there to witness the execution. Once he was God, he could exact his revenge on her, and the Winchesters, and everyone who had wronged him or opposed him over the years. Then he would retrieve the Demon Tablet from his office and give Crowley the ultimate enema. Tomorrow, Heaven would be his.

Xavier and Ethan had come to in Castiel's cell and each looked at the other, puzzled. Xavier's last memory was of speaking with Metatron, agreeing to let him execute Castiel. Now here he was in Castiel's cell. How had he gotten here? And where the hell was the prisoner?

Xavier looked at Ethan, who was having his own trouble remembering. The last Ethan remembered, he had brought Xavier here to talk to Castiel, but now the cell door was wide open and Castiel was missing. What was going on?

"What am I doing here?" Xavier demanded of Ethan. "And where is Castiel?"

"What are you doing here?" Ethan echoed. Now he was really confused. "You asked me to bring you here. I don't know where Castiel is. The last I remember, we were all standing here together.

"Well, he's not here now, you fool!" Xavier thundered. "You've let him escape!" There was no time to worry about what had happened, Xavier was worried about what was happening right now. Castiel was gone! He had to be found immediately, before everything went up in smoke.

Ethan smiled inwardly. Castiel had somehow escaped? Good! But he could not say this to Xavier, of course. Nor could he point out to Xavier that they had both been here with Castiel last; that would be a "career-limiting move", as they said on Earth. Xavier looked ready to spit fire.

Xavier rushed out of the cell, slamming the cell door behind him, and Ethan trailed behind. When they got to the front desk, Xavier lunged for the phone and called Jason. "Castiel has escaped!" Xavier yelled into the phone when Jason answered. Then he slammed down the receiver and glared at Ethan, who was fighting not to smile. He was probably going to be blamed, but right now he was mentally cheering Castiel on, hoping he was far away by now.

"Go back to his cell and wait for us there," Xavier snapped at Ethan. He had seen the young guard sitting with the Prophets in the gallery at the hearing, and Xavier wondered where his loyalties truly lay. Had he helped Castiel to escape? If so, Jason would get the information out of him when he got here, and there would have to be a staff change at the prison.

Ethan knew what Xavier must be thinking, and he was scared now. He couldn't remember what had happened after he'd let Xavier into Castiel's cell, all he knew was that Castiel had still been there, and he hadn't helped Castiel escape. At least, he didn't think he had. But Xavier had been there, too! Not that Jason would care. Crap.

But when Ethan rounded the corner and looked into Castiel's cell, Castiel was there, and the cell door was closed and locked. What the hell was going on here?

Castiel was wondering the same thing. He was standing in the middle of his cell, as he had been a moment ago when Ethan had brought Xavier in to see him. Now Xavier was gone, and Ethan was standing out on the corridor, looking at him strangely. Castiel's head felt muddled, almost as if he'd been trying to recall a name that was on the tip of his tongue. What had just happened here? Where was Xavier?

Ethan was staring at Castiel, open-mouthed. He hadn't been there a moment ago, and now he was. What the hell? He ran back to the front desk to tell Xavier, and Xavier looked at Ethan as if he were crazy. But Xavier came back with him to the cell and saw for himself.

Castiel was now sitting on his bunk, trying to figure out what was going on. He saw Xavier and Ethan gaping at him.

"Where were you?" Xavier demanded of him.

Castiel was annoyed, to say the least. It was bad enough that Xavier was going to execute him in the morning; now he was asking nonsensical questions. He hadn't been anywhere, it was Xavier and Ethan who had moved.

Just then, Jason arrived, and he looked at Xavier incredulously. "What do you mean, the prisoner escaped? He's right there!"

Xavier sputtered, "But he wasn't, a moment ago!"

This really would have been quite funny under other circumstances, Castiel thought. But he was in no mood to laugh. These men were going to kill him in the morning; he'd be seeing them again all too soon. He frowned. "Leave me be," Castiel said, and he laid down on his bunk, turning his back on the men.

There was nothing else to do then but for the three very confused Angels to go back out to the front desk. With one more suspicious look at Ethan, Xavier and Jason left the prison, and Ethan sat down heavily at the desk. He'd been extremely confused to see Castiel back in his cell, as if he'd been there all along, but Ethan was also crushed. He'd been so hoping that Castiel had gotten free. Now the situation was status quo, and Castiel would die in a few hours. He wished he could have snuck Gail in to see him one last time, but Ethan knew that Jason had posted Todd outside her cell to keep watch on her throughout the night. He suspected that might be why Jason had done it. That son of a bitch, Ethan seethed. Why not let them see each other one last time, at least let them say goodbye? It was cruel, and unnecessarily so. And these were the types of Angels he was working for. Ethan was seriously considering handing in his resignation after this horrible business was over. But he would be here for the couple in the morning, at least so they could see a friendly face. It was the least he could do for them.

Gail was sitting on her bunk, staring at Todd. He was standing out in the corridor, looking back at her with a blank expression on his face. Jason had stationed him there after she and Castiel had been brought to jail from the hearing room, and he'd told Todd to stay put until the morning.

She had not forgotten that Todd was the guard who had ratted her out to Jason when she had come here to visit Castiel, prompting the traumatic standoff between Castiel and Jason. If she'd known then when she knew now, she'd have just stood aside and let Castiel chop Jason into tiny pieces, Gail thought bitterly.

She'd been hoping against hope that Ethan would stop by and take pity on her, bringing her in to see Castiel one last time before the morning, but when Jason left Todd to watch her and walked away, smirking, Gail knew that was not going to happen. So she'd been glaring at Todd for what felt like hours, trying to get a reaction out of him. But he'd remained silent and unmoved by her stare.

"I hope you know what kind of a supposed God you're serving," she finally said to him. His eyebrows raised, but he said nothing. At least she'd gotten a bit of a reaction. So she tried again. "Have you ever heard of Nazi Germany?"

He looked at her curiously. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"Because it started out very much like this," she told him. "Guys just following orders. But you know how that ended up, right?"

Todd was silent for a moment, then he laughed derisively. "That's a stretch," he said. "It's your boyfriend who's the killer, not Xavier. I knew those guys he murdered at the hearing. They were just doing their jobs."

Gail sighed. She knew. That had been a dark moment for Castiel, and she knew he wished he could take it back. And she needed to take some responsibility for it, as well. OK, maybe a lot of responsibility, she amended to herself. If she had not lost it and slapped Jason, he would likely have left her alone, and Castiel would not have felt the need to go on the attack. So, as Dean would say, Gail realized their deaths were on her. She pretty much deserved to be in prison, she thought. But she likely wouldn't have to worry about it too long. Gail had the feeling she could expect a visit from any one of her and Castiel's enemies very soon which would result in her death as well. And she found that she was looking forward to that very much. After they made her watch Castiel die tomorrow morning, Gail was done with Heaven, and she was done with life. She'd given up.

Morning came all too soon, and Jason arrived at the prison to escort the Angels to the execution chamber.

He'd been bitterly disappointed that he would not be able to perform the execution himself. After they'd left the prison last night, Xavier had broken the news to him that the board was bringing in a professional Executioner to do the job, and Xavier's hands were tied on the matter. Jason had been angry. What did he mean, his hands were tied? Xavier was God, wasn't be? But Xavier had remained firm. Ignatius and the others had insisted that the job be done professionally. Criminal or not, Heaven's laws required that an Angel of Castiel's stature be given a proper funeral. That meant that his body would lie in state for the rest of the day, allowing Angels to pay whatever respects they had for the rogue Angel. The board felt that Jason might be a little too - er - enthusiastic, Xavier explained, and the vessel had to be kept as pristine as possible for public display.

Jason had been seething. Too right he would have been enthusiastic. He'd been like a kid on Christmas Eve, anticipating getting in as much torture as he could before inflicting the killing blow. But now Xavier was denying him that pleasure. He'd just have to take out his frustration on the Angel Gail when he visited her. While not as satisfying as making Castiel cry out in pain would have been, it would have to do.

But that didn't mean he couldn't savour their pain this morning. Jason had Todd unlock Gail's cell door and she stood as Jason entered, eyeing him warily. But he merely asked her to turn around and produced handcuffs. Jason had been wary as well, wondering if she would try to attack him, but she turned around meekly and allowed him to cuff her. Jason was almost disappointed.

"Take her to the chamber," Jason instructed Todd. He leaned down and said into Gail's ear, "Your boyfriend and I will be along in a minute."

Gail said nothing. She was sick with dread.

Then Jason went to Castiel's cell. Ethan was there, and he and Castiel had been talking quietly for about an hour now. Ethan had been trying to keep Castiel's spirits up, but it had been difficult, as Ethan himself felt so depressed. Castiel had almost ended up comforting him, Ethan thought wryly. He'd asked for Castiel's forgiveness, but Castiel had advised that there was nothing to forgive. He understood that Ethan was just doing his job, and thanked Ethan for being so kind to him and Gail, and for his support. He urged Ethan to keep on fighting Xavier's regime after Castiel was gone, and to please watch over Gail as best he could.

Ethan already left like hell, but that made him feel worse, and when Jason approached, Castiel had been asking Ethan to tell Gail how much Castiel loved her, and that his last thoughts had been of her.

Jason smiled at that, but it was a nasty smile. "You can tell her that yourself, you'll be seeing her in a minute," he said to Castiel as he motioned for Ethan to unlock the cell door.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked suspiciously.

Jason's smile widened. "Oh, you don't know, do you? Lanister specifically requested her presence this morning. I've made sure she's got a front-row seat."

Castiel's eyes widened. He couldn't mean..."You son of a bitch," he snarled at Jason. They were going to make her watch him being executed. Well, he might die this morning, but Jason would die first. Castiel tensed, ready to attack Jason as soon as he entered the cell.

But Jason was way ahead of him. He gave a nod to the Law Enforcement team that was assembled in the corridor, and when Ethan had opened the cell door, they rushed in and overpowered Castiel, cuffing and shackling him. Only when he was immobilized did Jason enter the cell.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Jason sneered. "Only one of us will die today, and it's going to be you."

Castiel's eyes flashed at Jason, but there was nothing he could do. The officers marched him out of the cell towards the execution chamber as Jason walked alongside and Ethan trailed sadly behind.

Xavier was there, of course, as were Lanister and Alexander. Daniel and Gregory had chosen not to attend, as was their prerogative. Ignatius had been on the fence, but he entered the room just as Todd brought Gail in, placing her in a chair at the front of the room. Gail glared at the board members, and Ignatius looked away from her stare. The other board members regarded her evenly.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Gail said to them.

"We're ridding Heaven of a killer, that's what we're doing," Xavier retorted. Did this woman never shut up?

"You're the killers. All of you." She looked at each board member individually. Now Ignatius did look at her. Did she see guilt in his eyes? Well, a fat lot of good that did them now. Where had that been in the hearing room?

Then she looked at Xavier again. "Bobby's going to come back soon and wipe the floor with you," she said to him.

Xavier smirked. Did she really think so? "Bobby quit," he said. "I will have to send him a Thank You card, though. If not for him, we wouldn't be here today."

Before she had a chance to retort, a door to the room opened and Jason and his officers brought Castiel in. Gail's heart leapt to see him, but then it immediately sank. They led him to the front of the room and turned him around to face the spectators.

Now that he knew she was going to be here, seeing Gail wasn't as much of a shock, but Castiel was still dismayed to see her in the front of the room, with her hands cuffed behind her back. He'd vowed to himself that he was going to stay strong for her, but Castiel looked at her sadly.

"You shouldn't be made to do this," Cas said to her, then glared at Xavier and the other board members. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves."

"That's interesting, coming from you," Xavier said scornfully.

Jason smiled. He was still angry at his friend, but he had to admit that hadn't been too bad.

"Have you anything to say before your sentence is passed?" Xavier asked formally, as Jason moved to stand behind Gail.

Castiel considered. Where did he begin? Truthfully, he had been hoping for something to happen, some kind of an eleventh-hour miracle. But it seemed there would not be one, and his time was truly over. His Father had rescued Bobby from Lucifer's cage, but where was He now? He had abandoned his Son and Daughter in their time of need, apparently. So what had those supposed signs of hope been all about? Castiel didn't want to die bitter, but it was hard not to feel resentment towards his Father now. How could he just sit back and allow this to happen? Had Castiel disappointed Him so badly that He was just going to do nothing?

Cas sighed. Apparently so. Castiel had made his prayers last night in his quiet time of reflection. He had asked forgiveness for the many wrongs he had committed over the years, and expressed his regret that he could not take back many of the killings that he had perpetrated in the past. He'd asked his Father to watch over Bobby, Dean, Sam, and most especially Gail. He still hoped that Bobby would get well and come back to Heaven to take over the reins. It would be too late to save Castiel of course, but Bobby could still save Heaven if he were to come back and oust Xavier. Then Bobby could release Gail from prison, hopefully before she suffered too badly at Jason's hands. Gail could go back to Sam and Dean, and they could take care of each other in his absence. His heart hurt as he thought of Dean and Sam. They had been his true family for so many years now, and he would miss them terribly. He hoped they would get over his death and help Gail to do the same. He did hope the brothers would mourn him for a while though, he thought, smiling sadly. Maybe drink a few toasts to his memory.

So Castiel had made his peace as best he could, but now there was Gail to consider. The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks as she looked at him standing shackled before her. What could he say to help her let go of him?

"Give Bobby and Dean and Sam a hug from me," Cas said around the lump in his throat. "Tell them I love them. And I love you, too. Remember me together with them, and I'll never truly be gone."

That was all he could think of to say. He wanted to leave her with a message of love and hope, not bitterness or hatred. But he couldn't speak any more without crying himself, and Castiel did not want that to be her last memory of him. So he looked at Gail and repeated, "I love you. Please remember the good times we had together, only the good times."

"Bring in the Executioner," Xavier announced abruptly.

An officer opened a door behind Castiel, and Metatron entered, wearing a black hood as he and Xavier had agreed. He moved to Castiel's side and withdrew an Angel blade from his cloak, waiting for the go-ahead. He'd conjured the cloak for himself this morning, thinking it was a nice touch. They were going old-school today, and he was looking forward to dispensing some old-school justice.

Suddenly, Gail cried out, "That's Metatron!"

All the Angels in the room looked at her, startled by her outburst. What was she talking about?

Xavier's eyes widened for a moment. How could she know that? He recovered quickly. "The prisoner is delusional," he scoffed to his fellow board members. "No more disruptions, or we will have Jason silence you," he said to Gail.

Castiel looked at Gail too, then sideways at the Executioner. He couldn't see his face, of course, but Cas did see the eyes of the Executioner, and they were bright, almost gleeful. Why would Gail say such a thing? Metatron was in Hell; there was no way he could be here in Heaven. Had Gail's grief caused her to have a flashback to Dallas, or to Las Vegas perhaps?

Gail wanted to cry out again, but she knew that Xavier had meant what he'd said, and she didn't want Cas's last memory of her to be seeing Jason torture her. So she shut her mouth, but she glared at the Executioner.

Metatron was also wondering how Gail could possibly know it was him under the hood. The only one who knew he was here was Xavier, and Metatron knew that Xavier wouldn't have told her. So how the hell had she known? Castiel didn't believe it, Metatron could tell, though he was looking at him curiously. So the altered memory had held. Good. Much as Metatron would love to whip off his hood and do the dramatic reveal, see the look on Castiel's face before he killed him, he knew he could not. He'd managed to restrain himself from ingesting the contents of the vial last night, just barely, and once he had killed Castiel here, Metatron was going to find somewhere private and do the deed, then come out with metaphorical guns blazing.

Xavier thought that he himself had the vial. Metatron had planted the false memory in Xavier's head last night, and now Xavier clearly remembered Metatron and Castiel combining to open the cabinet door for him, Xavier removing the vial and locking it in his desk drawer in God's office. He too was planning to ingest the contents of the vial once they were done here. He was still confused about the events that had taken place in Castiel's cell, but shook them off as being insignificant now.

Xavier gave the nod to Metatron. "Proceed."

"Just a minute," Jason said, and stepped out from behind Gail's chair. Xavier looked at him inquiringly. What was he doing? Was Jason going to protest that it should be him doing the executing?

But Jason merely walked up to Castiel and stared him in the eye. If Jason couldn't have the satisfaction of killing him, he at least wanted to wound Castiel one last time.

"This prisoner has contraband," Jason announced, and reached into Castiel's shirt pocket, removing Gail's photo. The white feather came out too and floated to the ground, unnoticed.

Castiel cursed himself. In the confusion of last night and the anguish of this morning, he had forgotten to give the photo to Ethan to give back to Gail. He had let her down one last time.

Jason walked quickly back to Gail's chair and looked at her, holding the photo. For a fleeting moment, she allowed herself to hope that he would give it back to her, but then he smirked and she realized she really should have known better. Jason ripped up the picture and threw the pieces at her. Gail started to rise from the chair. She didn't know what she was going to do with her hands cuffed behind her back, maybe spit in his face, but he slammed her back into the chair and moved behind her, holding her there.

Castiel looked at Gail with sorrow in his eyes, but she shook her head. She didn't want his last words to her to be an apology. He had nothing to apologize for.

Metatron hesitated. He didn't know what that had been all about, but he'd enjoyed seeing the pain in Castiel's and Gail's faces over it. Maybe Metatron would have to have a chat with Jason once he was God; he could use a heartless bastard on his team.

He motioned with the knife and Xavier again said, "Proceed, Executioner."

As Metatron swung the Angel blade towards Castiel, Jason grabbed Gail by the hair and held her face steady with his other hand so she could not avert her head. Metatron plunged the blade into Castiel's chest and a blinding flash of light escaped from Castiel's body. A blue glow emanated from the wound, then it changed into smoke, which flowed out of his vessel as his essence was forced out of it. The glow then faded and was gone, and the blue smoke dissipated. His vessel fell to the floor.

Gail was screaming, struggling against Jason's grip. She saw Metatron looking down at Castiel's lifeless body, then looking at the blood on the blade he was holding.

"Come here, Metatron!" Gail screamed at him. "Kill me, too! You couldn't do the job right in Vegas, finish it now!"

Metatron looked at her. For a brief moment, he considered it. But he knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to goad him into revealing his identity, which would become evident if he rose to her bait. So he turned around and went out the door through which he'd come, walking outside the prison so he could wink back into the alcove.

"Remove the prisoner's body to be placed in the viewing room," Xavier instructed the officers. They moved forward and picked Castiel's body up from the floor, carrying it out of the room.

"You may attend the viewing," Xavier said to Gail magnanimously. Jason had released his grip on her and she looked at Xavier uncomprehendingly.

"His body is to lie in state, according to Heaven's laws," Xavier explained to her. "At the end of the day, he will be interred, and you will go back to prison to begin your sentence."

"Enjoy your last visit together," Jason smirked. "Don't say we never did you any favours. You can even hold his hand if you want. I'm sure he won't object."

Gail was so shocked and devastated that she didn't react to his cruel gibes. Castiel's murder had left her numb. Like him, she had held out a tiny sliver of hope that there would be a last-minute intervention of some sort. Things had always worked out for them somehow in the past, even in the most grim situations. But he was actually dead this time, and there would be no miracles. She looked at the white feather on the floor, juxtaposed with the droplets of red blood that had dripped from Metatron's blade. The blood was real. The feather was the illusion.

Chuck stood in the doorway of the viewing room, looking at Gail with concern. She had been sitting with Castiel's body all day as the Angels filed past, paying their respects. They all glanced at her before leaving, but she ignored them. Ethan had been good enough to handcuff her hands in front of her so she could reach out and take Castiel's hand in both of hers, and she had been holding it the entire time, talking softly to his body as if he were still alive. And to her, he was. He was merely sleeping, as he'd done in Las Vegas. Soon he would wake up and they would go to brunch with Sam and Dean. She'd wait as long as he needed to catch up on his rest.

Chuck knew that Gail had lost her mind. She was as delusional as Aurielle was now. The lineup of Angels to view the body was getting shorter, and soon they would come to remove Cas and inter him, and they would take Gail back to prison. She was his responsibility now, and Kevin's; all of theirs, really. He owed it to Castiel to help her. Chuck would have to assume the role of Bad Guy again. Cas wouldn't want her to live like this.

So Chuck approached Gail and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come with me, Gail," he said.

She ignored him, so he repeated the request.

"I'm not going anywhere, Chuck," she said calmly. This cheered him a little. At least she still had enough of a grip to realize who he was. "Cas is going to wake up soon, and I want to be here when he does." Chuck frowned. OK, maybe not that much of a grip. It hurt him to hear her talk like that. But what he had to say to her would hurt him more.

"Cas is dead, Gail," Chuck said, wincing. "He's gone."

"Don't listen to him, Cas," Gail said. "He's just being mean for some reason. Did I ever tell you he tried to buy me a drink in Las Vegas?"

Oh boy, Chuck thought. She was really gone. He had to step it up.

Chuck walked out into the hallway to talk to Ethan and Kevin. "She's really lost it," he told them. "We have to fix this. I need your help, guys. We have to be cruel to be kind."

The three Angels walked into the viewing room and grabbed Gail, pulling her away from Cas's body. "No!" she screamed. "No! Cas!"

"You can talk to him in a minute," Chuck said, hating himself. "Right now we have to talk to you."

They dragged her out into the hallway, and she was kicking and screaming. She was making a scene, and they couldn't afford the attention, so Kevin put a hand over her mouth and he and Ethan held her as still as they could while trying not to hurt her. Kevin was happy that she wasn't biting his hand, though she was still trying to scream against it.

Father, forgive me, Chuck thought. He leaned forward, close to Gail's face, and snapped, "Shut up."

She was so startled that she did, and she stopped struggling for a moment.

Now that he had her attention, Chuck pressed on before he lost the stomach for what needed to be done.

"If you stop screaming, we'll let you go back to him," Chuck told her. Kevin tentatively removed his hand.

"Why did you take me away?" Gail asked Chuck. "He needs me."

Chuck took a deep breath. "Cas is dead, Gail. There's nothing you can do for him any more except to go on living."

Gail looked at him, puzzled. "What are you talking about? Why are you saying that, Chuck?"

"Because you need to hear it," Chuck replied. "He's not sleeping, and he can't hear you. He's dead, Gail. Gone."

"Stop saying that!" Gail raised her voice.

"I won't, until you accept it."

"I won't accept it," Gail protested, starting to cry. "I can't."

"Well, it's true. He's dead," Chuck said again. God, he was scum.

Gail started to get angry now. Chuck needed to shut up. "You were always jealous of him." She spat the words out. "That's why you're saying that."

Chuck was encouraged. If she had enough spirit left to get mad at him, he could bring her back to reality. And he could take it. She had never really given him the stuff he'd deserved for being so rotten to them in the past.

"No, I'm saying it because it's the truth," Chuck continued calmly. "And you need to say it, too. He'd dead."

"I hate you, Chuck. I hate all of you," Gail said bitterly. "I should never have become an Angel. I should have stayed with Crowley and helped him kill you all." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. What was she saying? Cas would be ashamed of her. But it was true. She hated Angels. Angels had killed Cas.

"You killed him," she said to the three Angels. "You all killed him."

Chuck was glad that she seemed to have come back to reality, but her words hurt. It was true; they were all responsible for Cas's death. Chuck should have marched into Xavier's office and run a blade through him a long time ago, and instead he had been selfish, worrying about his own salvation. At least if he had killed Xavier, Chuck would have descended into Hell having done the right thing. Now Cas was dead and Xavier still lived, and Heaven was doomed.

"OK, that'll have to be enough," Chuck said to Kevin and Ethan. "We're running out of time."

Ethan passed Kevin the key to Gail's handcuffs and Kevin passed them to Chuck, who freed her from them. "Sam and Dean are visiting Bobby," he told her. He'd seen them in a vision earlier, and so had Kevin. "You need to go tell them about Cas. And stay there, Gail. You're not going to rot in Heaven's prison. Not on our watch."

"I can't leave Cas," she protested.

Chuck grabbed her by the upper arms. "Cas is dead, Gail. You know that. You owe it to Sam and Dean and Bobby to tell them. And you owe it to Cas to stay out of prison. Do you think he would want you to be tortured by Jason? How much that would hurt him?"

That got through to her, and Gail started crying again. No, she couldn't have Cas hurt like that. He'd suffered enough. But how was she going to tell Dean and Sam and Bobby that Cas was dead when she could barely accept it herself? Denial was so much less painful. She hated Chuck for this, but she guessed she had to love him, too. He was being a friend to her, and he cared about Cas's feelings.

"All right, Chuck," she said. She kissed him on the cheek, and Chuck knew his cruelty had been worth it. Sam and Dean would take care of her. He had no idea how they were going to explain her sudden disappearance from Heaven, but they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

Gail gave each Angel a brief hug and vanished from the hallway.

She reappeared in Bobby's room at the mental hospital. He and Sam and Dean were all sitting around the table, having a cup of coffee. Her sudden appearance startled them, and Dean spilled his coffee on his hand.

"Ow!" he yelled. "What the hell, Gail?"

Bobby gave Dean a look. "Cool it, Dean." Considering where they were, sudden outbursts were probably not a good idea. Dean smiled. "Right. Sorry, Bobby."

But Sam was looking at Gail, and he didn't like what he was seeing. She looked strange, off. She was just standing there looking at them. It was obvious that she had been crying, and even when Sam stood, she didn't come over for her usual hug.

"What's going on, Gail?" he asked quietly, approaching her.

"Cas is dead," she said dazedly. She hadn't meant to be this blunt, but Gail was devoid of feelings now, or at least she thought she was.

"What?" Dean exclaimed. He jumped up from his seat, spilling all their cups of coffee now, but no one noticed.

"Cas is dead," she repeated, looking at Dean. Chuck had drummed it into her head, and now it seemed she couldn't stop saying it.

She looked at Bobby then. "Cas is dead, and it's all your fault."

Bobby was alarmed. That couldn't be true; it was way too soon. "No. It can't be," he said to her.

"Yes, it can," Gail retorted. "I saw it happen. They held my head and made me watch. Do you have any idea what that's like, Bobby?" He was silent. "Do you?" she demanded.

Sam and Dean were facing her now, and Sam was reaching out for her. She felt compassion for them, but her anger at Bobby had taken over and she needed to be alone with him, to let him know what he had done.

Gail reached out and touched the brothers, putting all the power she had into it, and sent them back to the bunker.

Then she turned to Bobby, who continued to sit at the table, immobilized by shock. She walked up to him and slapped him as hard as she could. His head rocked back from the blow.

"You killed Cas," she repeated, "and now you're going to cast me down into Hell. I'm done with Heaven, I'm done with Angels, and I'm done with you."

Bobby looked up at her, rubbing his face where she had hit him. Suddenly, Cas was standing behind Gail, blood smeared on his face and hands. "They tortured me, and then they killed me, Bobby," he said, "and they made her watch. This is all your fault. If you hadn't turned on us at the tribunal, I'd still be alive, and Gail would still have her sanity. Way to go, Bobby. I guess crazy loves company." He slowly started morphing into Lucifer. "Maybe Crowley will send me a female to play with," Lucifer said, leaning over Gail's shoulder. "It's been ages since I've gotten some." He started to laugh, but Gail didn't react, of course, because Lucifer wasn't really there, he was only in Bobby's mind. Cas had never been here, it had just been Lucifer, screwing with him.

Bobby had been on the road to recovery, but now he broke again. Gail sat down at the table and looked at him calmly, waiting for him to speak, or smite her, or do something. But Bobby couldn't speak. Gail became Lucifer became Cas became his father, and Bobby was down the rabbit hole again.

Metatron was back in the alcove now. He felt like dancing a jig. Castiel was finally dead, and Metatron had had the sweet experience of killing him. Gail's suffering had been the plump red cherry on top of the whipped cream. He looked at the Angel blade he was still holding, stained with Castiel's blood. He should put it in a glass case, preserve it for posterity. Better still, he would visit Gail's prison cell and stab her with it too, mingling their blood together. Then he'd proudly display it on his desk in the High Office, as a deterrent for anyone who even thought about defying him.

And speaking of which...he withdrew the vial from his pocket, put the knife carefully on the cabinet, and went to screw the vial open. But it wouldn't open. His hands must be slick. He wiped them on his cloak and tried again. It still wouldn't open. He put everything he had into it then, grunting with the effort, but it wouldn't budge. What the hell?

He brought the vial closer to his face, looking at it in frustration. Then he noticed something he hadn't seen before. There were Enochian symbols on it. What did they say? He scanned the symbols, his mind doing the translation as he read. No. It couldn't be. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He must have read it wrong.

But he hadn't, and Metatron realized he was screwed. The writing stated that the hands of two Originals were also required to open the vial. Unbelievable! Why had he not taken the time to examine the vial before? Easy to answer; he'd been so hell-bent on getting his revenge, he hadn't taken the time. Hoist by his own petard again.

Soon Xavier would tear his office apart looking for the vial he thought he had, and he'd come back here. And Metatron was holding the thing, but he couldn't do a damn thing with it. He had killed Castiel. Where was he going to get another Original?

Now that Castiel was dead, there were only two Originals left besides Metatron himself: Crowley and Lucifer. And Lucifer was unobtainable. That left only Crowley. Could he get the King of Hell to help him do it?

Metatron thought furiously. Why should Crowley want to help him be God? Well, Crowley did hate Xavier, Metatron knew. Did Crowley hate Xavier enough to prefer Metatron over him? Metatron was a perceptive guy; he knew that Crowley hated him, too, and had allowed him to come up to Heaven just so Crowley could be rid of him. Was that enough of an incentive? He really didn't know. Of course, Metatron still had the Demon Tablet in his old office. He'd hate to give it up, but he could use that as an ace in the hole if his ex-partner refused.

But he'd better have one last look at the vial, just to see if there was any fine print he'd missed, before he committed. And it was a good thing he'd taken the time to look again. There were two very important points near the bottom: the vial had to be opened here in Heaven, for one thing. Great. How was he going to sneak the King of Hell into Heaven? Could Crowley even enter? But the second point told him what he needed to know: It stated that any Original could enter Heaven at any time. So that was the kicker. Crowley could enter Heaven.

There was no time to lose. Metatron winked himself down to Earth and found a phone booth, calling Crowley on his cell phone.

Crowley's cell phone rang, and he looked curiously at it. The display said "Unknown number", so he doubted it was Sam or Dean calling, and they were the only ones he could think of who would be calling his cell phone from Earth.

He'd recovered from God's visit to Hell, and had been conducting business as usual. The Hotline had been silent, and Crowley had thought that wasn't a good sign. His Father had retrieved Bobby from Lucifer's cage, and Crowley could only assume he'd gone back up to Heaven, releasing Castiel and Gail and kicking Xavier's ass in the process. And Crowley was resigned to that fact. It would be disappointing, after they'd worked so hard and schemed so much, but Crowley found that he didn't really mind as much as he thought he would. He had grown to hate Xavier, and the thought of Xavier having been screwed out of his dream job was strangely appealing. And out of all the potential Gods, Bobby was the most palatable. Of course, now that he'd spent some quality time with Lucifer, he might not be so reasonable in his dealings with his opposite number, Crowley thought wryly. Maybe he'd better stay away from the Hotline for a while, let Bobby cool off. And as for his Brother Castiel and his girlfriend, well...que sera sera. Crowley was used to losing out to his Brother by now. Ever since Day One, when it had been Crowley in the form of Cain who had had his moment of victory, the contest had been decidedly one-sided.

So, resigned to what he thought were the facts of life, Crowley picked up the phone and was utterly gobsmacked to hear Metatron's voice.

"Good news," Metatron said happily. "Castiel is dead. And I was the one who got to kill him."

Crowley was shocked. He was normally the one who did the shocking, so it was strange to be on the receiving end. But, this was Metatron; was he even telling the truth? Crowley had been sure that God was going to smite Metatron into the next century. When his Father had come storming into Hell, their conversation had been civil enough, but Crowley knew that God had been angry enough to rain fire and brimstone down on those who had disappointed Him. It was a miracle that Crowley himself had lived through the experience, and Metatron had definitely bitten the hand that fed him all these years. But now, not only was Metatron still alive on Earth, he was telling Crowley that he had killed God's favourite Son and that God had let him do it? Sorry, but Crowley wasn't buying it. Metatron was just screwing with him.

"Right," Crowley said sarcastically. "And I became the Pope last week."

Metatron stared at the phone receiver unbelievingly. He was calling Crowley with the glorious news bulletin the King of Hell had been waiting to hear for untold centuries, and Crowley didn't believe him. Mind you, he might have felt the same way if he was in Crowley's position. It really did sound too good to be true. If Metatron hadn't been there and done that himself, he might not believe it either.

"Come up to Heaven and I'll show you," Metatron told him. Actually, Crowley's disbelief was working in his favour. He hadn't been sure how he was going to persuade the King to enter Heaven and help him open the vial. If he were able to entice Crowley up to Heaven this way, half the battle would be won.

Now it was Crowley's turn to regard the phone curiously. Him, come up to Heaven? Unlike Metatron, Crowley had always been aware he could actually enter Heaven any time he wanted to, he just hadn't ever wanted to do it before. All those Angels, and all that white? Didn't they have any decorators up there? Funny how God had created such vibrant colours on Earth and yet had saved none for his home base. No wonder He kept taking off so often.

But Crowley was intrigued now, and he found himself considering it. If Metatron was telling the truth, that was.

"So Bobby just let you kill Castiel," Crowley said. Just to see what Metatron would say next.

"Bobby?" Metatron scoffed. "He showed up at the tribunal, but he quit his job and walked right back out again, and nobody's seen him since. Then the tribunal concluded, and Ass-tiel was sentenced to death. Oh, and your former little protegee got a 5-year prison term, too. She's a bit perturbed about the whole execution thing, though. I'll have to visit her soon and put her out of her misery."

It was just bizarre enough to possibly be true, Crowley thought. "What about Xavier?" he asked.

This was dangerous territory. Metatron felt like he just about had one of Crowley's designer shoes in Heaven, but he didn't want to talk politics right now. If he could get Crowley up to Heaven and show him Castiel's body, Crowley might just be grateful enough to Metatron for doing the deed that he would agree to help him open the vial. And if not, Metatron still had the Demon Tablet, but he really didn't want to give that up if he didn't have to.

So Metatron avoided the question, saying instead, "They've had your former Brother lying in state all day. It's been rather touching, actually. And they did such a good job with his vessel. You can't even see where I stuck the knife in."

A pause. Would that be enough?

Crowley sighed. This went against his better judgment, but he was picturing the scene in his mind now and he just had to see it for himself. He'd frowned at Metatron's reference to Castiel being his Brother, but it was true, after all, though there were very few who knew it. So he supposed he really did want to see it with his own eyes.

"All right, Metatron, you've piqued my interest. But this had better not be a game of some sort."

"No game, no trick," Metatron said hastily. "Cross my heart." Well, if he had one.

So they arranged to meet. Crowley would come to where Metatron was on Earth, then they would go to Heaven together. Metatron would take Crowley into the viewing room to see Castiel's body, making sure the coast was clear, and then he and Crowley could retreat to the alcove room, where Crowley would help him open the vial. Ideally.

Crowley stood looking down at Castiel's body. He still couldn't quite believe it. All those centuries of resentment and enmity. All his planning and scheming to make this happen, only to be stymied time and time again. It had taken Heaven's smarmiest and most annoying denizen to do it, but it had actually happened.

He had the strangest impulse then. A lock of hair had fallen over Castiel's forehead when his vessel had dropped to the floor, and Crowley noticed that now. He reached out and swept the hair back. Why had he done that? It had been almost an affectionate gesture. But he hated his Brother; he always had. Crowley was glad that he was dead.

"It was pretty pathetic in the end," Metatron crowed. "He was being put to death by his own kind, deserted by God and betrayed by Bobby, but he didn't fight. He didn't even curse out the board. He just blathered on about love and hugs and memories. When I stabbed him, he seemed almost grateful. What a rush."

Now Crowley felt something else. Sad? Angry? He wanted Metatron to shut up.

But Metatron wouldn't. "The mighty warrior Castiel. Nobody could kill him all those years, not even you. But I could. I guess that makes me the warrior now. Everyone should bow down to me."

Oh, they should, should they? Crowley began to seethe. Castiel HAD been a warrior, a formidable enemy, and Metatron had just gotten lucky. He was ruining this for Crowley. He just wanted a quiet moment to think about the battles he'd had with his Brother over the centuries, and to sort out the implications of Castiel being gone without this idiot chirping in his ear.

"And on that subject..." Metatron took the vial out of his pocket and tapped Crowley on the shoulder.

"What?" Crowley snapped, turning around. He saw the vial and his eyes widened. He knew what it was. He'd thought Xavier would have obtained it before they killed Castiel and have ingested it already. Now Metatron was holding it, and it was unopened. Now Crowley understood why he was really here, and it was not to say a final goodbye to Castiel. Metatron wanted his help so that Metatron could become God. He had obviously screwed up and killed Castiel before reading the fine print. Crowley almost smiled. Typical. He could just picture Metatron trying to open the vial, sweating with the effort, and then realizing he'd just killed the one he'd needed to help him become God. So now he needed Crowley. Well, Metatron was dreaming.

"You're joking, right?" Crowley said scornfully.

"No, I'm not," Metatron replied. He could see there was still some persuading to be done. He'd been hoping that Crowley's joy upon seeing Castiel dead and knowing that Metatron had done the job for him would be enough.

"Look," Metatron continued, "I know you and I haven't always seen eye to eye, but I'd be a way better God than Xavier. He's got a yardstick up his butt about everything, and he wants to bring Heaven back into pre-Biblical times. He's even prohibited hand-holding in Heaven, and he's planning on having anyone who does it stoned to death as an example."

Crowley smirked at that. Why did that not surprise him? Poor Angels; bad enough having to be celibate without having that thrown at them. Xavier must have had a cow when the testimony about Las Vegas had been presented. Crowley knew what had happened between Castiel and Gail in Las Vegas, and the thought that his Brother had finally enjoyed some carnal pleasure had actually made Crowley inexplicably glad. It seemed the Demon and the Angel were not so different, after all. When Crowley had goaded Castiel over the phone that day, he knew he'd touched a nerve because Castiel could not be holier-than-thou on the subject any more.

"So what?" Crowley said to Metatron. "What do I care about Heaven's moral code? If Angels choose to be Angels, if they choose to live without certain...perks, what's it to me?"

"Oh, but that's not all," Metatron said. "He also plans to send Jason and his troops down to Earth to clean house. He hates humans, and he wants to do a purge. And Sam and Dean Winchester will be the first to go."

That got Crowley's attention. If anybody was going to clean house on Earth, it should be him, not Xavier. And the mention of Moose and Squirrel had touched a nerve.

And Metatron knew it. He guessed he should have led with this information. He knew the idea of Xavier riding roughshod on Earth would rankle Crowley. The King of Hell had long been envisioning doing that himself. And when it came to the Winchester brothers, Metatron was now convinced that Crowley was full of it. He'd had many opportunities to kill Sam and Dean, and he had never done it. After Crowley had killed him in Vegas, Metatron thought for sure that Crowley would have taken care of them too, yet they still lived. For a guy who claimed to hate the brothers so much, Crowley had a funny way of showing it.

Fine, Crowley thought. Xavier shouldn't be God, then. But Metatron? He hardly thought so. Too bad Bobby had taken a powder. Castiel would have even backed Castiel over Metatron if he'd known this was the way things were going to go.

Metatron wiggled the vial in Crowley's face. "I'm your only option," he said, smiling. "Let's go, Crowley."

Crowley was mad now. Oh, they were going to go, all right. He extended both his arms and Metatron went flying against the wall. The vial flew out of his hand and smashed to bits on the edge of the bier where Castiel's body lay, ironically enough. There was a blinding white light, then white smoke issued from the shattered glass and dissipated once it reached the ceiling of the room.

Metatron watched the smoke go, and with it had gone his only chance to be God. He glared at Crowley. The son of a bitch was going to pay.

"You've destroyed my Kingdom," Metatron snarled. "Now I'm going to destroy yours." Then he vanished from the room.

Crowley just stood there for a moment. Well, at least Metatron wasn't going to be God now, nor was Xavier. Bobby was already God, but he was in the wind somewhere. Maybe he would come back now, or maybe the original God would. Who knew? And really, did Crowley care?

But what had Metatron meant with his parting shot? Was it just an idle threat, made in anger, or was there more substance to it than that? Sam Winchester had once likened Crowley to a cockroach, but Metatron was the real cockroach. It seemed that nothing could put him down, and now that Crowley had thwarted him and denied him God's powers, Metatron would be out for revenge. Crowley had always thought that Castiel would outlive them all, but Metatron had apparently dispatched him quite easily in the end. What did that say about Crowley's chances?

Crowley turned back to look at Castiel, laying dead on the bier. At least now Crowley had that quiet moment of contemplation that he'd wanted.

Crowley frowned. Now that he himself would be Metatron's Number One enemy, it was almost a shame that Castiel was dead. They could maybe have formed an alliance, reluctant as it may have been, against Metatron. If anyone had had the reason and the true motivation to want Metatron dead, it was his recently deceased Brother. Metatron had screwed Castiel over, stealing his Grace and causing The Fall, turning many Angels against Castiel in the process. They'd blamed Castiel equally for it, even though he had been Metatron's innocent dupe. Then Metatron had killed Dean, and even though Dean had escaped death due to Crowley's own Mark having been on Dean's arm at the time, Castiel had never forgiven Metatron for doing it. Then Metatron had escaped Heaven's prison and had gone on a killing spree on Earth. Gail had actually succeeded in dispatching Metatron then, but he'd surfaced in Hell and then managed to escape from there. He'd returned the favour by stabbing Gail in Las Vegas, devastating Castiel temporarily until he'd found out that as she'd been human at the time, she was an Angel once more. Yes, Castiel had plenty of motivation to get rid of Metatron. But Castiel was dead now, and Metatron was out there planning who knows what.

And where was God during all this? Crowley remembered his Father's recent visit to Hell all too clearly. He had chastised Crowley for having planned to incarcerate Castiel with Lucifer, and had said something about Crowley having to choose. And hadn't his Father also said something about holding out hope for Crowley? What had that been all about?

Then Crowley's mind brought him back to the Garden, where the whole thing had started. Crowley had been Cain then, and Castiel had been his brother Abel. Abel had given their Father a gift which outshone Cain's, and Cain had then realized that his brother would always be God's favourite. And feelings of bitterness and resentment had risen up in Cain. He was the older child and God had once looked upon him with great favour, but then Abel had come along and he had turned God's head away from Cain. Abel was everything that Cain was not: humble, soft-spoken, and meek. God had looked at Abel with great affection. Cain then began to hate his brother, even though Abel had never given him reason. And that day in the Garden had been the last straw. Cain had been jealous and angry when he'd gone to confront his brother. But what exactly had he hoped to accomplish? What was done was done, and it had really been God who Cain was angry at, not his brother. But Cain had been too intimidated and cowardly to tell their Father how he felt, so he'd turned his rage towards Abel and stabbed his brother to death. He'd regretted it right afterwards, but it was too late.

And the rest of the events that followed since that day had been a direct result of that first murder. Crowley pictured Gail's face suddenly, looking up at him from where she had prostrated herself over his Brother's dead and bleeding body. Had she done so again today? He heard her voice in his head: "This isn't what you have to become."

Now where the hell had that come from? She hadn't been there that day. How could she have been? He and Castiel were Originals, and she had been a recent addition to their sphere. So why was he picturing the scene so clearly in his head? He'd run away from the Garden in shame, leaving his brother [and his beloved?] behind, and Crowley had been running ever since.

What would the world have been like if Cain had not killed Abel that day? What would all of their lives be like?

Crowley reached out to touch his dead Brother for the last time.

"WAG THE DOG"

If Cain had never killed Abel, the course of history would have changed. Some events and relationships would have remained the same, as God and Destiny had intended, but many of history's greatest tragedies would never have occurred. And all of God's children would have still existed, but the course of their lives would have been irrevocably altered.

Dean and Sam Winchester were brothers with two very separate and distinct personalities.

They had never grown up with the Hunter legacy. There was no need for Hunters in this very different world, because there were no monsters. The original evil had never taken place, so there was no such thing as murder on Earth. Everyone co-existed peacefully for the most part. Human nature being what it was, there were still squabbles and petty jealousies, but that was it. Every monster that the Winchesters might have had to face would have been the spawn or mutation of the murders that had gone before them. But since the original murder in the Garden had never taken place, the dominoes had not fallen, and Sam and Dean had a relatively normal midwestern upbringing.

There were no Demons, so their mother had never been killed by one, and she lived still. Sadly, their father had died of a heart attack right before Sam's wedding. Still, they'd had a good run as a family unit, and many a fond toast had been raised to John Winchester at the reception.

Because they had not been on the road together Hunting all those years, the brothers were not nearly as close, though they still loved each other, of course. Their personalities were very different, both from each other's and from what they would have been if they had been forced to become killers from a very young age.

Before embarking on their individual adult lives and careers, Sam and Dean had attended the same college. They still hung out together as much as they could, but the concentric circles around the brothers were already starting to pull them apart.

Dean was sitting in the cafeteria, trying to concentrate on his advanced calculus textbook. He grasped the concept of what it was saying, but it was hard for him to focus on the content. Still, he persevered. His dad was a good man, but he was a mechanic, and Dean aspired to more.

Gail plopped down in the seat next to Dean as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Hey," he said to her. "What's happening?"

She sighed. "Not much." She glanced at the book he was holding. "Actually, I was hoping to set up another session with you. I just don't get math. I never have."

"That's cause you've got your nose stuck in those fantasy books of yours all the time," Dean told her.

Gail pushed her own glasses up the bridge of her nose. "They're great stories, Dean," she said.

Dean nodded. Actually, they kind of were. He'd signed up for a couple of bird courses this semester to break up the monotony of his math and sciences-heavy curriculum, and literature had been one of them. Dean had been an avid reader since childhood, and he'd thought the course would be a breeze. But subtext and symbolism were concepts he had a hard time with. Math and science were Dean's fortes. He was drawn to things he could touch and see, and though he was highly intelligent, Dean didn't really see the point in wasting time with flights of fancy. When he'd seen that the first book assigned was a fantasy novel about Angels and Demons, Dean had been amused. He'd tried to read it and found the subject matter really far-fetched, even for a fantasy novel. He'd been here in this same cafeteria trying to read it over lunch a few months ago when Gail had been passing by.

Gail was shy and bookish; she had been since childhood. She and Frank had also never been burdened with the Hunter legacy, and their parents were both still living. Frank had already moved out, and his and Gail's parents had honestly been hoping she'd do the same. She spent most of her time cloistered away in her room, doing homework and reading books, and Christina was starting to worry about her daughter. Most girls Gail's age hung out in groups and had seemingly endless conversations on the phone, but their daughter was a very solitary young woman. She didn't seem to have any friends, Christina told her husband, but worse than that, she didn't seem to want any. What kind of a life would their daughter have once she had finished her studies?

Actually, Gail wanted friends very badly; at least one or two would be nice, but she had no idea how to get any. Without their shared tragedy to bind them together, she and her brother Frank had never been especially close, and when he'd moved out, Gail had retreated into her room and her fantasies. She was socially awkward, and the types of books she read were so fantastical in nature that they gave her an unrealistic perspective on people and on life. Once she'd made it as far as college, Gail had been hoping to meet a kindred spirit, someone who had the same interests as herself.

So when she walked by and saw Dean reading one of her favourite books, Gail had stopped. She'd seen this guy in her Lit class and thought he was kind of cute, but she'd never spoken to him, of course. If Gail couldn't talk to other girls, how on earth was she going to talk to a guy? But when she saw him apparently engrossed in the book they'd been assigned, she gathered up her courage and said, "Isn't that a great book? I'm so glad they assigned it to us, it's one of my favourites."

Dean put the book down and looked at her, bemused. He didn't really agree about the book, but the fact that a female was actually talking to him got his attention. Dean was a friendly enough guy, but because he was so serious about his studies, he came across as rather standoffish. He had had a few dates here and there, but most girls found him nerdy and a little boring, something Sam teased him about to no end. But Dean figured there'd be plenty of time for girls later on; good grades were his priority now.

And because Dean wanted to keep his GPA up, he'd been regretting taking this course. He didn't really know what the Professor was looking for. They were expected to analyze what they were reading and look for deeper meaning in it, and Dean just wasn't getting it. Demons were bad and Angels were good; what was there to analyze beyond that?

"It's one of your favourites, is it?" he said to Gail then. "Then maybe you can explain it to me. It's a good enough story I guess, but I'm having trouble finding any deep meaning in it."

Gail was amused, but she could see his point. The book was one of her favourites now, but it had taken her a few readings through to get it. She told him this.

Dean frowned. "Let's just get through it once and then go from there." He lifted his backpack from the chair next to him, inviting her to sit down.

They had become "study buddies" since that day. Gail helped Dean with Literature, and he helped her with Calculus. And then they had become friends. Neither of them had ever had a friend of the opposite sex before, and rumour had it that they were dating. Gail didn't mind the rumour, even though it wasn't true; she'd never even been out with a guy before, so to her, it was a step up. Dean didn't care, either. He liked Gail a lot; not in that way, but he thought there was a lot more to her than anyone noticed. She was just so damn shy, that was her problem.

"Have you seen the new exchange student yet?" Dean said to Gail, putting his Calculus book down and smiling at her.

"No, I don't think so," Gail answered. What was he smiling about?

"I just met him this morning," Dean said. "He was in the office signing up for classes, and he asked me for advice. I told him to take our Lit class. You're welcome."

Gail was puzzled now. "What do you mean, 'you're welcome'?" she asked Dean.

He was smirking now. "Wait till you see this guy."

Oh. She was starting to get it now. Dean was always pointing out good-looking guys to her and trying to goad her into asking one out. She never did, of course, but they were good enough friends by now that she thought it was sweet of Dean to want her to get a date.

"Good-looking, I take it?" she asked him, smiling.

"I even thought about switching teams for a minute," Dean joked.

OK; even though Dean was kidding, this she had to see.

Sam plunked down in the seat across from them. "Hey, nerds, what's up?" he said, grinning.

Gail was used to Dean's brother by now, so she just rolled her eyes. Sam was nice enough to her, but the way he teased his brother annoyed her sometimes. Sam was smart enough in his own way, but he was a jock and hung out with the "cool kids". Their college had cliques like any other school, and Sam's circle didn't include his older brother. Sam's world revolved around sports, beer, and girls, and not necessarily in that order.

Without the need for his older brother to protect him from a very young age, Sam had grown into a confident young man, and he wrung the most out of his college experience. In a reversal of roles, Sam was the one who was the rebel, and Dean was the more serious and bookish one, aspiring to a career, marriage, and kids. But right now, they were young and just starting to feel their way through life.

"Nothing," Dean said. "Calculus," he added, picking the book back up. But before he could open it again, he saw that the guy he'd met that morning had entered the cafeteria.

Dean nudged Gail. "Judge for yourself," he said to her, nodding his head in the direction of the exchange student.

"Hey, Cas," Dean called.

Cas smiled and began to walk over to the table where the Winchesters and Gail sat.

Wow, Gail thought. Dean wasn't kidding. He was gorgeous. Gail could see other girls turning their heads to look at him.

Cas sat down beside Sam. "Hey, I'm Cas," he said to Sam. "I just got here from Spain yesterday."

"Funny, you don't sound Spanish," Sam said to him.

"That's cause I'm not," Cas said casually. "I'm an Army brat, we move around a lot."

"You told me you were a foreign exchange student," Dean said.

Cas winked. "I just say that cause it sounds exotic. The ladies like that." He looked at Gail. "And speaking of which, who might you be?"

Oh, God. He was looking straight at her, and his eyes were bright blue. Gail blushed. "Umm...I'm Gail," she stammered.

"Are you two..." Cas motioned from Gail to Dean and back again. Dean grinned, but Gail was taken aback. Was this guy ever bold, she thought.

"No, just friends," Dean said cheerfully.

Cas sat back in his chair and opened his backpack, slapping a book on the table. "So, apparently I have some catching up to do. Angels and Demons, huh? What do you think, Dean? Can you catch me up?"

Dean continued to grin. "You should ask Gail," he told Cas. "It's her favourite book, apparently."

Gail looked sideways at Dean. She was going to kill him.

"Really?" Cas said, shifting his gaze to Gail again. "And whose side do you come down on? The Angels, or the Demons?"

She couldn't tell if he was being funny or not, so she said nothing.

"Not too talkative, is she?" Cas said to Sam. Now Sam was grinning, too.

Gail was embarrassed, but she was getting a little mad, too. Cas was good-looking, but he was also obnoxious.

"SHE talks to people who aren't rude," Gail blurted out.

Dean looked at her, startled. He'd never heard Gail talk like that before. Neither had Sam, and he was amused. Good for her, he thought. She'd always been a bit of a mousy thing, in Sam's opinion.

Cas looked a little shocked. He wasn't used to any girl talking to him like that. His parents had spoiled him all his life, and when he'd become a teenager and had grown into his looks, girls had started fawning all over him. He wasn't as obnoxious as he came across, he'd just skated through life on charm and he often just said whatever came first to his mind.

"Sorry, Gail," he said. "Seriously, do you think you can help me?"

Gail eyed him suspiciously, but his apology seemed genuine. She couldn't believe she'd spoken to him like that, either. She'd never stood up for herself like that before. She even let Sam and Dean walk all over her. Well, Sam mostly. Dean was usually pretty nice.

"Sure, I guess so," she told Cas. He smiled at her, and they began talking about the book.

Dean looked at Sam and the brothers smiled.

Frank was sitting at his desk going over the quarterly report when his cell phone rang. It was probably Cheryl, asking when he was coming home. He'd wanted to leave about an hour ago, but he couldn't get the numbers to come out right and he was supposed to present the report to the department heads in the morning.

Without the Hunter legacy to weigh him down, Frank had excelled in school and had skipped a couple of grades, and now he was the youngest Vice President in the history of his company. He'd married his high school sweetheart and she was pregnant with their second child. Frank loved his wife and child, and he liked his job, but the hours were long and the responsibilities were numerous. The money was good, though, and he and Cheryl were thriving. The only regret Frank had was that he didn't get over to see his parents that much any more. But he knew they were proud of him. His mom was always bragging to her friends about her hotshot executive son.

But when he picked up, it was his sister Gail. Frank was a little surprised. They didn't talk much. She still lived at home, but on the rare occasions he did make it over there for a visit, she usually just scurried up to her room after supper.

"Hi'ya, kiddo," Frank said. "What's up?"

"I need your advice," Gail said. "Do you know when you'll be coming home next?"

Frank frowned. "No idea," he said. "Probably not for a while. What's going on?"

Gail sighed. She'd been hoping to talk to him in person. Now that she had graduated college, she didn't quite know what to do with herself, and she couldn't talk to their parents about it. They didn't even know her. She wasn't sure Frank did either, but he was still the only one she could talk to about the dilemma she was facing.

"I've got a problem," Gail told her brother. "Dean asked me to marry him."

Frank smiled. "Why is that a problem?" he inquired. "I think it's great! You've been friends with him for a long time now."

Gail sighed again. "He's great, Frank. But I'm not in love with him."

Crap, Frank thought. Not this again. "Don't tell me you're still hung up on that guy Cas," he said. She was silent. "Why do you want to hang around with a guy like that?" Frank asked her, exasperated.

"What do you mean, 'a guy like that'?" she retorted. "He's a great guy, Frank, you just have to get to know him."

"I know the type, Gail," Frank said. His sister was a young woman now, but she was naive, innocent. Frank had met Cas once at the house, and he'd been just a little too charming for Frank's liking. Frank thought Dean was a much better match for his sister. Dean was going for his PhD now, and he was going places.

"What type is that?" Gail sighed wearily. She was starting to regret making this call. It was always the same conversation.

"He's too much of a free spirit," Frank insisted. He was trying to be diplomatic.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Gail said, but she was smiling now. That was one of the things she liked best about Cas.

"I just don't think he's good for you," Frank grumbled.

"Well, who asked for your advice, anyway?" Gail said tartly. She had gotten pretty good at that in the past couple of years.

"Umm...you did," Frank said dryly.

Oh. Right. Still, Gail pushed on: "I don't think Dean loves me, anyway," she told Frank. "I think he just proposed because he wants to be married to somebody."

Frank rolled his eyes. Actually, that was probably true. He and Dean had had a few conversations over the past couple of months, and Dean had told Frank that he wanted to be married with at least one kid on the way by the time he was 25. Just like Frank was. And the girls were not exectly beating down his door. So Frank thought that Gail might have a point there. But Cas? Frank just had a feeling that guy was trouble.

He sighed. "Well, at least promise me you'll talk to Dean before you go running off with Cas."

Gail brightened. "I will." That was about as much of a blessing as she was going to get. She hung up the phone after saying goodbye and looked at her suitcase. It was already packed and waiting by her bedroom door.

Ian was passing by the town square when he saw an elderly woman looking around, with a confused expression on her face. He was already running late for work, but she looked so distressed that he had to stop and ask her if he could help. Never let it be said that Ian Fergus McLeod would not take the time to help someone in need.

It turned out that the lady simply needed to know where to board the bus, so Ian walked her to the bus stop and when she started digging around in her purse, he pressed the bus fare into her hand and helped her on when it came. Then he walked the rest of the way to work, whistling. That had been his own bus fare he had given her, but he was young and it was a nice day; he could walk. Hopefully, his boss wouldn't be too angry if he was late again. Ian loved to help people, and the older lady had reminded him of his own grandmother, who he tried to visit once a week or so. He'd take her to church and then they'd have lunch. Ian held down two jobs and did his share of volunteer work so his schedule was pretty full, but he always made time for his family.

Ian was who Crowley would have been if the first murder had not occurred. Who he should have been. He was not a saint, of course. He did like to have a beer or two at the pub and he had a girlfriend who stayed over once in a while, but other than that, he lived a pretty clean life. He'd seen too many of his friends go the opposite way, chasing the almighty dollar and giving in to greed and jealousy over others who had more. Money was only paper; Ian knew what was really important in life.

And Ian was happy. He walked into the bookstore and was glad to see that his boss wasn't around.

"You're late again," Gail said, but she was smiling.

"I know. I had to help a little old lady find her bus," Ian said. "Coffee, two creams, right?" he asked her.

She looked at him, puzzled. Then she noticed the cup he had in his hand. "For me?" Gail asked him.

"Yeah," Ian said, handing it to her. "I figure I owe you. I'm late more often than I'm on time, and I know you're here, covering for me."

"Thanks, Ian," Gail said, sipping at the coffee. She was grateful for it. She'd spent another late night out with Cas, and she wasn't as young as she used to be. She wasn't even as young as she'd been when the two of them had come here to London. She yawned, then took another couple of sips.

Ian looked at her. "Cas keep you out late again?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gail admitted. "We went out to a club for a while, and he started talking to some people, and before I knew it, we were going to somebody's house, and...well, you know."

Ian didn't, really, but he'd met Cas, so he could just imagine. The guy was a free spirit, to say the least. He and Gail seemed like they were in love, but Cas was full of surprises. They'd just up and moved here from the States about a year ago, and Gail had told Ian recently that Cas seemed to be getting the wanderlust again. He'd been talking about backpacking all through Europe before they got too old to do it. She thought it kind of sounded like fun, but Gail had spent most of her formative years in the same house she had grown up in, and it was a little weird for her to think of going from place to place to place.

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?" Ian had asked her.

But that wasn't in Gail's nature. Even though she'd gotten a lot better when it came to expressing her feelings, she still found it easier to go with the flow. And living with Cas was just like living with a tsunami. It was just easier to lie back and let the wave take you in whatever direction it wanted to go.

Cas breezed into the store. He'd felt a little bad about keeping Gail out so late and he wanted to make it up to her. He extended the cup of coffee he'd brought her and was surprised to see she already had one. He raised an eyebrow.

"Ian beat you to it," she told him, smiling. "But, thanks anyway. I'll take that one, too. I'm going to need it." She took the cup from him and set it down next to the cash register. What a sweetie, she thought.

Cas looked at Ian. Interesting. They'd met before, but Cas didn't know what to make of Gail's co-worker. The guy seemed almost too nice, and Cas wondered if he had a thing for Gail. Then he shrugged. In a way, that would make things easier.

Cas did think Gail was special and that she had a lot to offer a guy, but he wasn't that guy. The longer they stayed together, the more likely it was that he was going to end up breaking her heart. When they'd first started seeing each other back in college, Cas had been honest with her. He'd told her he needed to be out there experiencing life; he wanted to do everything, see everything. And she had gotten on board, at least in principle. But they'd been in London nearly a year now, and while she seemed to be putting down roots, he was feeling restless.

"So have you told your boss the big news yet?" he asked Gail, coming around the desk and putting his arm around her.

Ian smiled at both of them, but he saw Gail frown momentarily. "Not yet," she said to Cas. "I think we should talk about it a bit more." There. She'd said something. Ian gave her a discreet thumbs-up.

Cas sighed. He didn't want to talk any more; he wanted to go. "What's there to talk about?" he asked her. "You're either in, or you're not."

Gail turned to face him. "Sam's getting married," she blurted out.

Cas eyed her warily. Was she trying to hint at something here? "Good for him," he said cautiously.

She saw the panicked look on his face and knew that he'd misunderstood. "No, I didn't mean..." She tried again. "I kind of wanted to go to the wedding. I've known him and Dean for a long time, and I've missed them."

"Well then, you should go," Cas said casually.

Gail's heart sank. She had been hoping he wanted to go back with her.

"What about you?" she asked. But she already knew the answer, didn't she?

Cas glanced over at Ian again, who had retreated to the New Books section. He was making a show of rearranging the books, but Cas knew he was listening.

Cas looked at Gail. Out of all the girls he'd been with, he liked her the best and had been with her the longest. But he needed to be who he was, and maybe the time had come for them to go their separate ways.

So he kissed her one more time, a slow, deep kiss. One to go on. She was crying now, but he couldn't let that stop him. If he didn't leave now, he probably never would.

Cas walked out of the store and walked back to their flat, packing his things. He didn't have that much, considering how long they'd been here. He liked to travel light.

Before leaving, he dug into his pockets and left all the money he had on the table. It was the least he could do for her. She'd need it if she was going back to the States. He'd make out all right; he always did.

Cas thought about leaving her a note, but really, what could he say? He did love her, but he wasn't into committments and he wasn't into guilt.

He shouldered his backpack and closed the apartment door behind him.

Dean and Gail watched as Sam and Jess walked to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife.

"I can't believe Sam is married, considering the way he carried on in college," Gail said to Dean, smiling.

"I can't believe he got married before me," Dean said glumly.

Gail looked at him sharply. Was he still on that? "I apologized to you, Dean. Can't you just let it go? You know you didn't really want to marry me."

Dean sighed, taking a sip of champagne. "Yeah, OK, Gail. You're right. But you left without even saying goodbye."

He was right, and Frank had been, too. She should have at least talked to Dean before taking off with Cas. But Cas had been so eager to get going, and she had been a little afraid that he'd leave without her if she delayed. Gail sighed now. She guessed that should have been a sign.

Dean looked at her. "Where's Cas now?"

She wished he wouldn't talk about Cas. It still hurt too much. "I don't know, Dean. Somewhere in Europe, I guess," she said sadly.

Dean frowned. "I'm sorry I ever introduced you guys that day in the cafeteria."

Gail put her hand on top of his. "Don't be, Dean. At least I got out of my room and out into the real world. I guess I'll always be grateful to him for that. I'll get over him, eventually. He's not a bad guy, he's just...Cas."

Dean nodded. "So what are you gonna do now?" he asked her.

Gail shrugged. "I guess I'll take my English Lit degree and do something with it. I've applied to a few colleges in California. I can teach by day and write by night."

Dean was amused. "Still trying to write the Great American novel?"

"I don't know about that," Gail responded, "but I do want to try my hand at the fantasy genre."

"Angels and Demons?" he teased.

"Yeah, I think there's just so much more to be explored there. Good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, you know."

Dean rolled his eyes. After all the years he'd known her now, Gail was still into that supernatural crap. But he guessed he couldn't knock it too much. He'd been reading Chuck's first book when he'd met Gail, and their friendship had solidified over it.

He raised his glass and they toasted. "Don't forget me when you become a famous author," he said to her.

Gail grinned. "And don't forget me when you discover the cure for the common cold. Or whatever you do in that lab of yours."

Sam and Jess came over and Gail jumped up to give them both a hug.

"Thanks for coming, Gail," Sam said. "I didn't think you were going to be able to make it."

"Yeah, well, London was nice, but I was kind of homesick," Gail told him. Then she smiled. "Besides, I had to see you get married. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it. No offense, Jess," she added hastily.

Jess smiled. "It's OK. I couldn't really believe it either when Sam proposed." She kissed Sam, and he laughed. "Hey, I had my wild times," Sam said to Jess. "But it was time to grow up, and you were always the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

And it was true. Sam had liked Jess ever since they'd met in his first year of college, but he hadn't been ready to settle down then. But because Sam had not been targeted by Demons, Jess had not been killed by one, and when the time was right, he had proposed to her. They had all the time in the world now.

"We're going to Europe for our honeymoon," Jess said happily.

"If we like it enough, we may even move there," Sam said, grinning.

The mention of Europe made Gail feel sad again, and she realized that they had all grown apart. She guessed that happened when you got older. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen her brother Frank and his family, or her parents.

She dragged Dean to the dance floor and when their dance was over, she kissed him softly on the cheek. "Thanks for being my friend," Gail told him.

Dean gave her a hug. "Thanks for being mine," he replied.

Then Gail left the reception hall and went back to her hotel room. She left for California the next day. She was sure one of her applications for a teaching position would bear fruit. And if not, she'd figure something else out.

She never saw the Winchesters or Cas again.

God shook His head sadly. His five children had lived many various incarnations since Creation, but this was the first time He'd ever brought them together. He'd been curious to see what would happen. He'd been amused and gratified to see that the Winchester brothers and Gail had gravitated towards each other, and that Castiel had joined their circle for a while. His once-favourite Son had disappointed Him, though. He'd thought that Castiel would have appreciated the freedom of choice and movement his Father had given him. His Son was owed that, considering the raw deal he'd had originally. Murdered by his own brother, then forced to live a lonely existence in poverty and then dying alone, never having been anywhere or experienced anything in life. Then, the final insult: finally finding a family in the Winchesters and forming an unbreakable bond with the love of his life, Castiel had been put to death by his own kind, and his Father had let it happen. So the poor guy deserved a break. But with every incarnation, Castiel seemed to be getting worse. God had been too generous, and Castiel was taking advantage. Without their shared bond of fighting evil and helping the human race, Castiel and the Winchesters had allowed themselves to drift apart, and his treatment of Gail had been shameful.

On the other hand, God's other Son "Crowley" had been steadily improving with each incarnation. As Cain, he had still felt jealous and resentful of his brother, Abel; but when Cain had decided to let it go and walked away from his brother in the Garden instead of raising the knife, everything had changed for him. By the time he was Ian, God's Son had made himself into an admirable human being. God had nudged Gail into the bookstore that day, and when she'd gotten the job, bringing about the inevitable meeting between his two Original Sons, God had leaned forward, curious. But Cas and Ian had not seemed to recognize each other, and God had been puzzled by that. He'd thought for sure there would have at least been a spark there, a second look exchanged, something. But then He'd also thought that Sam and Dean and Cas and Gail would have stayed together upon meeting each other, but that had not happened either. Was this the way their lives were supposed to have been? No, God couldn't believe that. He'd thought that the removal of evil and constant danger in their lives would have been a good thing. Then why did watching them now make Him so sad?

God changed the channel. Maybe watching some of His other children would cheer him up.

Chuck walked out of his publisher's office smiling. After all these years, he still couldn't believe he got paid to write his stories. And paid well, too. He looked at the cheque in his hand again, almost as if he'd expected it to be a lesser amount. Wow. To be paid this much for stuff that came out of your head and flowed down onto a piece of paper? It was crazy.

He started walking to the elevator, still staring at the cheque, and bumped into a woman who'd been walking around the corner.

"I'm sorry,"Chuck said, reaching out to steady her. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The woman smiled at him. "I'm sorry, too. I should have been looking where I was going. I'm looking for an office on this floor, and I was checking the suite number again." She held up the piece of paper in her hand.

Chuck noticed that she had a bound sheaf of papers in her other hand. He smiled. "That wouldn't be a manuscript, by any chance, would it?"

Gail looked up at him. "Yes, it is," she said shyly.

"Then you're looking for 303. I just came from there, I'll show you," he said.

As they walked, Gail was looking at Chuck. He looked familiar to her for some reason. Then she made the connection. "Is your name Chuck?" she asked him.

He stopped walking and looked at her, smiling again. "Yes."

"The author of the Angels and Demons series?" Gail asked.

Chuck nodded. "That's me."

She couldn't believe it. This was the man who had written her favourite books of all time. "I love your books," she told him. "We covered the first one in my English Lit class in college."

Chuck's smile turned wry. "You're making me feel old now."

Gail's heart sank. She had offended him. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to tell you how much your books have meant to me over the years." She winced. She'd done it again.

But Chuck was looking at her with a kind expression. "Thank you. It's always good to meet someone who enjoys your work. Though to tell you the truth, it's more pleasure than work. Even after all these many, many years." But he laughed, to show her he was teasing.

"I know, writing is a joy, isn't it?" Gail said, her face lighting up.

Chuck looked down at the manuscript she was holding. "So you're a fellow scribe, I take it?"

She laughed merrily, a little embarrassed. "Well, I don't know about that. I've been working on this for a couple of years now, and I think it's pretty good. Now I just have to convince somebody else," she added wryly.

"I can take a look at it if you want," Chuck offered. "What's it about?"

Now Gail was really embarrassed. She was amazed that an author of his stature would offer to take a look at what she had written, but now she was feeling insecure. Maybe she had made a mistake coming here.

"It's about monsters and the people who hunt them," she said, averting her eyes. "And God, and...there are Angels and Demons in it, too. I hope you don't mind. I'm not trying to rip you off. I just thought the concept was so great I've always wanted to explore it further."

Chuck smiled. "There's always room for another author. And if the work is good, it stands for itself. And don't worry about ripping me off. Every inspiration had to come from somewhere."

So they went for a coffee and Gail showed Chuck her manuscript. He was impressed with the plotlines and the depth of her character analysis. "This is really good, Gail," he said to her. "Mind if I take it home and give it a really good look? If you want, you can reschedule with my publisher and I'll go with you, see if I can get them to give you a shot."

Gail felt like she was going to cry. He was being so kind.

Bobby bounced his granddaughter on his knee. The baby smiled up at him and he smiled back at her, steadying her by gently holding her chubby little arms. This must be the cutest kid he had ever seen in his life, he thought; even cuter than her mother had been when she was this age.

He smiled warmly at his daughter. "Do you want another cup of tea, Dad?" she said, moving towards the stove.

"No, thanks," Bobby told her.

His daughter refilled the kettle anyway and set it back on the stove. "Now that Mom is gone, have you given any more thought to what we talked about?"

Bobby's smile faded a little. Rowena had developed a lump in her breast last year but by the time they'd opened her up, the cancer had metastasized and it had been too late. He'd buried her several months ago and he missed her terribly. But they'd had many happy years together, and now he had his daughter and new granddaughter to look after and before too long, they'd be looking after him. He'd see Rowena in Heaven when the time came, Bobby was sure of it. No one knew if Heaven or Angels really existed, of course, but Bobby believed. And Heaven would be a terrific place, he knew. His Angel Rowena was already there, waiting for him.

Aurielle came offstage and grabbed a towel from one of the crew. "Thanks," she smiled. That had been her best show ever, she thought. She loved to sing, and she loved seeing the epression on people's faces when she sang to them. How great to have a God-given talent that made people so happy.

She walked into her dressing room and Jackie was waiting for her, as always. "Great show," her girlfriend said, handing Aurielle a bottle of water. "I got here late, but I was watching from the wings."

Aurielle gave Jackie a kiss. "Thanks, sweetie. I thought it was pretty good, too." She wiped off with the towel again, then flopped down on the couch.

"Can I get you anything else?" Jackie asked her.

"What are you, my servant?" Aurielle shook her head, smiling. "Come here, sit down. I'll just rest for a minute and then we'll go home."

Jackie smiled back at her girlfriend. How she'd gotten so lucky was beyond her. Jackie had worked at the record company for years and she'd met many musicians, but Aurielle was the nicest by far, and she had the most beautiful voice Jackie had ever heard. As soon as she'd heard Aurielle sing, Jackie had fallen in love with her voice and once they'd been introduced, Jackie fell in love with her personality, too. She was a diva without an ego, a rarity in the business. A generous portion of every CD she put out went to charity, and Aurielle was equally generous with her fans, always taking the time to stop and chat with them and pose for pictures. She was never in trouble and her picture was never in the tabloids.

Aurielle had known from a very young age that she was gay, but she'd never acted on those feelings until she'd met Jackie. Now the two of them lived together, and their 10-year anniversary was coming up. Aurielle was grateful for all her blessings, but most of all, she was grateful to God for sending her Jackie. She looked forward to spending the rest of her life with her girlfriend. Maybe they'd even marry one day when the state would allow it. But Aurielle was happy. She had everything she needed in life.

Father Ted stepped out of the confessional booth, shaking his head. He'd certainly gotten an earful today, he thought, chuckling gently. Lust, envy, greed...wow. His parishioners had it all. But the sins they confessed to were mainly in thought, not deed. There was no such thing as murder in this brave new world, nor rape, nor any violent crime, really. The violations of the Commandments were all pretty benign, relatively speaking. He could live with that.

God had sent His Scribe down to Earth after years of faithful service, and Metatron had not disappointed Him. He had been Father Edward in previous incarnations, but these were modern times, and he was now Father Ted, and his flock loved him. He was benevolent and kind, with a gentle sense of humour, and he could relate to everyone from the very old to the very young. God had sent him down with The Word, and he tried to spread it around without being too preachy about it. Father Ted understood that life was very fast-paced these days, and people needed words of comfort, not fire and brimstone.

He had no recollection of having been God's Scribe. God had wiped Metatron's memory of that time in his existence before sending him down to Earth to begin his mission. Resentment had begun to build in him from the very beginning of time, and God reasoned that if He could remove the memory, He could negate the threat. And He'd been right; Father Ted was happy with his lot in life, and he had helped a lot of people.

Garth and Bess were a happily married, loving couple. They were trying to have a baby and had been unsuccessful so far, but they sure did enjoy the process of trying.

They were totally human, of course. There were no such things as monsters and there were no such things as Hunters. Garth was still a little quirky, but a little less obnoxiously so. He didn't feel like he had to prove himself to anyone, and he had never met anyone named Winchester.

Kelvin and Linda Tran cried when they saw Kevin receive his diploma. He'd had the highest SAT scores of any student at his school, and he'd been headhunted by many prestigious corporations. After doing his research, Kevin had chosen Dr. Dean Winchester's company. They were doing very exciting things in the field of disease control and prevention, and Kevin wanted in.

Becky had achieved Top Model status now, and she was getting paid the big bucks. She was in demand for magazine covers, and she made the rounds of all the industry parties. Men gaped at her everywhere she went, but very few actually plucked up the courage to talk to her. She was just so beautiful, confident and sexy, she seemed totally unapproachable.

Jody Mills was retired now. She'd had a long career in law enforcement, but she'd eventually burned out and decided to move to Florida. She still felt too young to be there, but she wanted to go someplace warm and lie on a beach. Life in Sioux Falls had been quiet; she'd dealt mainly with petty crimes and noise complaints. Jody had been spared the pain of losing her husband and her child to murder, but her marriage had still fallen apart and her daughter was grown now and didn't need her any more. Jody sighed as she picked up her suitcase and called a cab to take her to the airport. She supposed there were worse things than hanging around in God's Waiting Room.

As God continued to watch His children, He had mixed feelings. Without the constant shadow of murder and monsters upon the earth, some of them had flourished beyond his wildest expectations. But He was still troubled. Sam and Dean, Castiel and Gail had reached middle age now, and their lives were falling apart.

Sam and Jess fought all the time now. He'd begun to spend a lot of nights out, and he wouldn't really say where he was going. She was convinced that he was having an affair, and even though he wasn't, Sam couldn't convince her of that because he couldn't explain why he felt the need to leave the house at night. The kids were all grown now and had embarked on lives of their own, and this should have been the time to enjoy each other's company. But Sam was restless. He couldn't just sit around and watch TV, and most of the hobbies he'd tried had bored him to distraction. He'd get home from work and have dinner with Jess, but most nights they ate in silence and picked at their food. Once the kids had grown and moved out, Sam felt as if there should be more to life than just puttering around the house, which was something that Jess seemed content to do. He went for long walks at night, just wandering and thinking. Sam couldn't tell Jess where he was going because he wasn't going anywhere. And he couldn't really tell her what was wrong, because he didn't actually know.

One night at dinner, Jess threw down her napkin and said, "Sam, we've got to talk about this. Who is she?"

Sam put down his fork and looked at her, annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you, Jess, I'm not having an affair!"

"Then where do you go at night? What do you do?" she demanded.

Sam squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. "Nowhere," he said in a more subdued voice. "Nothing."

Jess fixed him with a glare. Sam couldn't look her in the eye; he really didn't know what to say to her any more.

She stood up suddenly from the table and said, "You're a liar." Then Jess stalked out of the dining room and ran upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

Sam sighed. He didn't know what to do any more. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called Dean. Could his brother meet him for a drink?

Dean was a little surprised to hear from Sam. Even though they both lived in the same town now, the brothers didn't connect all that often. Truthfully, they didn't have that much in common. Sam and Jess had lived in a couple of different countries in Europe after their wedding and when they were ready to have kids, they'd moved back home and started their family. Dean had never married. His company was his wife and child now, and it was listed in Fortune 500 magazine as one of the most innovative medical research firms in the world. Dean had been extremely successful in business and his firm was doing good work, but he was a lonely man. He worked long hours, then went home to a well-appointed penthouse apartment and fell asleep in front of the TV.

So when Sam called, Dean was still at the office. But Sam sounded weird. Though the brothers didn't talk all that often, Dean knew that Sam and Jess had been having problems. He didn't know what kind of advice he could give to his brother, having never even come close to getting married himself, but Dean agreed to meet for one beer.

Sam Winchester was married but didn't really want to be any more, and he was dissatisfied with his life but didn't know why. Dean Winchester was rich and successful and his company was doing great things, but he wanted to be married with kids, and he was lonely and miserable.

God couldn't understand it. Things were supposed to be better for the Winchesters without the Hunter legacy. Time to look in on his other children.

Gail's seventh book was coming out tomorrow and she'd had to put in an appearance at the party. After all these years and all the success she'd had as a published author, Gail was still uncomfortable at large parties. She really didn't know how to make small talk with strangers, and she often found herself standing in the corner with a drink in her hand, waiting for the moment when she could just leave without seeming rude. She'd been hoping to see Chuck; at least she could make some small talk with someone she actually knew and liked. But he'd texted her that he wasn't able to make it. He'd call her tomorrow and they'd have lunch to celebrate. She could leave the party now, he'd added with a smiley-face icon. Yup, Chuck knew her well.

She smiled briefly as she put down her drink and headed for the coat check. Chuck had started out as a mentor to her, but now he was a great friend, as well. And he was about the only friend she had, too.

Gail took a cab home and once she was there, she poured a glass of wine and turned on the TV. She never really watched it much, she just put it on for the sounds and the images. It got too quiet without it, and unless she was writing, she had too much time to think. And of course, when she had too much time to think, Gail thought about Cas. She wondered where he was now and what he was doing, and if he ever thought about her.

Cas did think about Gail, and as he'd grown older and had to slow down a little, he'd started thinking about her more often. Cas was still hoofing it around Europe, but he'd pretty much been everywhere by now, and he didn't know what there was left to experience. And for such an outgoing and gregarious guy, Cas was alone a lot of the time. He moved around so much he'd never been able to form any lasting relationships, and most of the people he'd met were either transients like himself, or had grown up and gotten off the merry-go-round.

He was sitting at a cafe in Paris, drinking a glass of wine and brooding. What was there left to do? He'd pretty much done it all. And what did he have to show for it, except for some memories and a lot of nights that he couldn't even remember?

Cas was a big believer in reincarnation, though. He had the feeling that he had existed on this earth before, and that he would again. Maybe next time would be different, he thought. Maybe next time he'd be calmer, more able to settle for a normal, boring existence. Maybe he'd meet up with Dean or Sam or even Gail again. Or maybe he'd just go dark next time, be an outlaw. That might be kind of fun.

He threw back the wine and ordered another.

God was thoroughly disgusted. What had He done? By setting the chain of events in motion before the tribunal hearing, allowing the hearing to reach its inevitable conclusion, and not intervening when Metatron raised the knife to Castiel for the final time, God had stopped the clock. Then He had rewound history back to the events in the Garden, allowing his Son Cain the free will to choose not to murder his brother Abel. And when Cain had chosen just to walk away instead, the dominoes had fallen in the opposite direction.

Could He just let this stand? Should He?

Yes, of course He should. Look at all of the good that many of his children had done, even some of the fallen. Metatron, a much-beloved priest. And Dr. Dean Winchester, founding a medical research company, saving humans through innovation rather than murder. Chuck, renowned author. Aurielle, an entertainer with a generous heart. He could go on and on. And most of all, Crowley had never been Crowley; he had been Ian, a pillar of his community. There was no such thing as murder on Earth because there had never been the first one.

So how could He just take it all back? And why would He? For the benefit of four individuals alone? Yes, they were his favourites and they were suffering, but why should they be? It made no sense.

But God was God, and time was infinite. Maybe if He just let it ride, things could still turn around. He decided to look in on some of His other children. He needed some more convincing that He had done the right thing.

Jason had always been a little different, and his parents had never understood him. Truth be told, they were a little afraid of him. Jason barely spoke to them, and when he did, he was rude and insolent. Almost as if it were he who was in charge, not them. And as he grew into his young adult body and began to fill out, his father began to back down and his mother let him do whatever he wanted.

He had been bullied and called names all through school, and Jason had ignored the offenders for the most part. Rising to their bait would just give them the power, and it was beneath him. Jason had read a lot of science fiction books as a child, and he related to the aliens, not the humans. As a child, he'd looked up at the sky hoping to see a UFO, hoping to be abducted. Abducted? Who was he kidding? He would have gone willingly, happily, just to get away from Earth and all the stupid humans in his life, even his parents. None of them understood him, and he didn't care to understand them.

As a way of dealing with his frustration and anger at the world, Jason had begun to capture and torture insects, then he graduated to small animals. He studied their reactions as he cut, burned and dismembered them with a curious sense of detachment, never showing his excitement. He only wished they could talk to him, describe how it felt. If only he could do the same to humans, he thought with amusement. But there was no such thing as violent crime; people simply did not behave or even think that way, and even Jason could not cross that line.

Everywhere he went that summer, Xavier saw couples kissing and groping each other, and wearing next to nothing while they were doing it. Their behaviour disgusted him.

He was a young man still and should have been behaving as such, but Xavier was extremely old-fashioned and he did not have those kinds of feelings. Even when he was a child he'd been an old soul; his parents had even given him an old-school name. The kids in school mocked him for his name and his Victorian attitudes, and Xavier was an outcast.

But, no matter. He felt as if he were destined for great things somewhere in the future. Xavier would just have to bide his time. He would show them all that he was right and they were wrong, and if anyone still opposed him, he would lock them up and throw away the key.

Yin and yang, God thought. You couldn't win them all. Some of His children were just going to be who they were, and no amount of game-changing would alter that, apparently. He was happy to see that Barry and Tommy were still living together, though their relationship was mainly superficial and eroding fast. Without any Angels having come into their lives, they had not bonded on a deeper level over the event, and Tommy had been thinking about moving out. He was still searching for that big story, the one that would put him in the history books, and he was planning on travelling the world over to get it. But Barry was a homebody, and he deserved a guy who wanted to be home.

Ethan had never become a police officer, and he and his girlfriend had gone on to have their son and parent him. But Mackenzie, or Mac as everyone called him, was a rebellious child with no respect for his father. Ethan was devoid of motivation in life and so had worked in a series of menial jobs just to provide for his family. But Mac didn't appreciate that; he just thought his dad was boring and lame. Didn't he ever want to do anything, be anybody? Well, that wasn't Mac. He was going to travel the world, do things, have some fun before he got old like his father.

Mac was a computer whiz. He'd taught himself how to hack into websites at a young age and when he couldn't stand his life there any longer, he'd begun siphoning off money from Fortune 500 companies and sticking it into his own online account. He never took too large an amount from any one firm, reasoning that the money wouldn't be missed. And so far that had held true, and Mac had accumulated enough to start the first leg of his journey.

He left his parents a note when they were at work, saying he was sorry but he just couldn't hang around and rot in this small town any more. He had to live his life.

Mac flew to Spain first, and that was where he met Cas.

Cas had gone back there on a nostalgic impulse. That was where his family was living when his dad had been shipped back to the States all those years ago. He'd hated to leave then, but then he'd met Dean and Sam and Gail in college, and he'd enjoyed hanging out with them for a while. Cas had even thought about going back to the States and looking his old friends up, but he supposed he'd burned his bridges there, especially with Gail. It would probably just turn out to be a big hassle. And he didn't have the funds or the access to them that he's once had. His looks had held and he was still long on charm, but he had never really held down a steady job and it was getting harder to keep body and soul together. He supposed he'd be reduced to romancing rich widows soon, he thought wryly. Hell, they didn't even have to be widows, if they would just give him what he needed to keep going. Although where he was going, Cas was sure he didn't know.

He and Mac met by chance in a bistro in Spain. Soon after they struck up a conversation, Mac was telling Cas that hacking into websites and stealing their money was easy. He only stole from large corporations; they had so much they would never miss it. Cas had listened with fascination. Now that he'd been told how to do it, he didn't see any reason he couldn't do it himself. He thanked Mac and bought him another drink.

So Cas had a job now. He would hang around in coffee houses clicking away at the computer, taking money from big corporations and giving it to his favourite charity, himself. In the afternoons he would wander around whatever city he happened to be in, and in the evenings he would buy himself an expensive dinner and drink too much. Sometimes he would pick up a random woman and let her take him to her home to spend the night, but most times he would get a hotel room and retreat there when the bar closed. He'd turn on the TV and pass out, then he'd repeat the process the next day or move on to the next town.

Then one day, when he was feeling a bit too hung over to go out in the morning sun, Cas opened his laptop on the desk in his hotel room and ordered room service. While he waited for breakfast, Cas went to the computer and started noodling around. He liked to research the companies he stole from, and he was doing that now. Then he came upon the website of one of the Fortune 500 companies he'd been thinking of hitting. It was basically a medical research firm, and those were not usually good targets. Altruists were long on good intent but short on profit, generally speaking. But this firm was an anomaly. Their research was designed to benefit people, but some of their staff members had come up with some brilliant inventions that were in great demand in the medical profession, and the company's profit margin was off the charts as a result. Dr. Kevin Tran was the head of the innovations department, and he reported directly to the recently announced Nobel Prize candidate Dr. Dean Winchester.

Wait. Cas couldn't have read that right. Then again, he could actually picture it. Just to be sure, he clicked on the company brochure, and there was Dean. His hair was streaked with grey now, but he wore the same glasses and had the same serious expression on his face Cas remembered from college. Unbelievable. The son of a bitch had done very well for himself, Cas thought. Surely he wouldn't mind helping out an old friend.

His hand wavered for a moment before clicking the mouse again. Could Cas really be considering stealing from a guy who had probably been the only real friend that Cas had ever had? But Dean's company was worth billions, and he was in line for the Nobel Prize. He could afford it.

So Cas drained the funds and put the money into his own online account. Then he ate breakfast, grinning the whole time. Thanks, Dean.

God threw up His hands. That had been the last straw. Brave new world or not, He couldn't take it any more. If He let things continue the way they were now, the dominoes would soon start to fall the other way, and His good intentions would all have been for nothing. He took a peek into the future and saw everything falling apart. Jason finally broke and kidnapped a woman, torturing and killing her. And once the dam had cracked, there was no holding back the water. Xavier went on to become the dictator of a third-world country and he was in the process of acquiring The Bomb. Jackie died of cancer and Aurielle abandoned her singing career and began mainlining heroin. Father Ted became a pedophile in his next incarnation. And Ian hit his new bride one night in a drunken fit of rage.

That was it. The moment Castiel betrayed the man who was the dearest friend he had in the current world in God's alternate world, the milk curdled, and God could see that He'd made a colossal mistake. The road to Hell is indeed paved with good intentions. Crowley was the King of Hell, and Crowley needed to fix this. Would he use his free will to do the right thing this time?

Sighing, hoping He was doing the right thing Himself, God brought Crowley back to the Garden in the form of Cain and gave him back the knife.

"YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE"

Crowley reached out to touch Castiel's body where it lay on the bier in Heaven's viewing room. He again remembered standing over his brother's body in the Garden, horrified at what he'd just done. It had been just the two of them, of course. Gail had not been there; how could she have been? That was a false memory, maybe brought on by his imagining her grief upon having to watch Metatron kill Castiel earlier in the day. The only one who would have witnessed Cain kill Abel was their Father, and He had recently told Crowley that he would have to make a choice.

So, which should he choose? Should Crowley let things stand and take his chances with Metatron alone? Or did he owe his Brother a do-over? Could he and Castiel put aside their hatred of each other, at least long enough to get rid of Metatron? Surely he wan't seriously considering this. Out of all of the decisions Crowley had ever made, this was going to be the one to that was finally going to rise up and bite him in the ass.

Crowley put both of his hands on Castiel's chest and leaned forward, putting all of his power into it. Castiel's mouth was slightly ajar and as the red glow started to emanate from Crowley's hands, he exhaled into his Brother's open mouth as though he were performing CPR on a drowning victim. Even with Crowley's considerable power, it took a few minutes. The Winchesters had been mere humans, so they had come back immediately, and with much less effort. It took a lot more juice to bring Castiel back from the void, but finally his eyes fluttered open and then widened in shock as he saw who was standing over him.

Crowley stepped back from the bier as Castiel slowly sat up. He felt groggy, almost as if he were waking up from a deep sleep. He remembered sleeping in Las Vegas, but this was not Vegas and this certainly wasn't Gail standing before him, looking at him cautiously. It was the King of Hell, Castiel's worst enemy. What was he doing here? Where were they?

Then Castiel remembered, and his hands went to his chest feeling for the stab wound, but it was gone. As he swung his legs off the bier, he reached into his blazer for his Angel blade, but of course he had no weapon.

"Really?" Crowley said, raising his eyebrows. "That's the thanks I get?"

Castiel looked at him uncomprehendingly. What was he talking about? And how was Cas even able to see Crowley? Hadn't he been executed? Dear Lord, was he in Hell?

Crowley saw his Brother's eyes widen again and he knew what Castiel was thinking. "No, you're still in Heaven," he said dryly. "But we'd better not stick around. Your girlfriend is with Bobby right now, and unless you want her to face another capital charge, you'd better rescue her. She's about to kill God."

Gail! About to kill God? That got Castiel's attention, and he stepped down from the pedestal the bier had been on. But his legs were still weak and he tottered, and Crowley was forced to rush forward and grab him before he fell to the floor.

"I was dead," Castiel said, still dazed.

"Yes, you were, and now you're not," Crowley said grumpily. "And now we truly are even. Let's go." He put his arm around Castiel for support and winked them out of the room.

Gail was not physically trying to kill Bobby at the moment, but if her eyes had been lasers, he would have been vapourized by now. She had succeeded in pushing him back over the brink, though, and the hallucinations had returned. As he looked over her shoulder, not only did he see Lucifer, but now Cas and Crowley had joined him.

Bobby had seen Cas when Gail had first come into his room. She had banished Sam and Dean and then accused Bobby of killing Cas. Then Cas himself had appeared, his hands and face bloody, saying that he had been tortured before being killed and that Gail had been forced to watch. That had been an illusion, brought on by Bobby's enormous sense of guilt over Cas's death. And Bobby had been thrust into complete insanity after that.

Now Cas was back and the blood was gone, but he was standing next to Crowley. Was Cas going to tell Bobby that he had gone to Hell when he died? No, that was impossible; Cas was a good man. Oh, no. Were they there to take Bobby back to Lucifer's cage as his punishment for having been responsible for Cas's death?

"No, Cas," Bobby pleaded. "Please don't take me back there. I'm sorry I killed you."

Gail looked at Bobby, startled. He had been practically catatonic ever since she had sat down. She could tell he'd been having hallucinations, but he'd apparently snapped and was incapable of coherent conversation. Gail had just been sitting here watching him, hoping he'd snap out of it, at least long enough to acknowledge her in her grief. And where did she have to go in such a hurry, anyway? Her life was over.

"Don't put me back in there, Crowley! If you're here to take me to Hell, I'll go, but not the cage, please!" Bobby was still pleading, looking past Gail. His eyes seemed focused, but he was obviously continuing to hallucinate. Gail began to feel a reluctant sympathy for Bobby now, but she fought it. She was still too devastated from Cas's death to forgive him. Well, at least he'd added Crowley to the repertoire, she thought bitterly. It was a change of pace, anyway.

"We got here just in time," she heard the voice say from behind her. "God's off his nut." Oh, great. Bobby's hallucinations were catching. Now Gail was hearing Crowley's voice. She shook her head, as if to clear it.

"Turn around, sweetheart," Crowley said, amused.

Gail slowly turned around in her chair and saw both Crowley and Cas standing there. Now she was alarmed. She'd obviously lost her own mind and was sharing Bobby's delusions. Well, at least she was in the right place. Maybe they could get adjoining rooms.

But then Castiel was rushing towards her and she didn't give a damn that he was a hallucination. Even though his being here was only in her mind, Gail rose from her chair and threw herself into his outstretched arms. If this was crazy, she never wanted to be sane again. He felt solid and strong, and his arms wrapped tightly around her. Gail buried her face in his chest and there was no stab wound and no blood there, just her Cas, and she started to cry.

Cas tilted Gail's face up to look at him. "I'm really here," he told her. Tears sprang to his eyes now, too. He kissed her on the mouth and then she believed. He was alive! She wasn't losing her mind; somehow, miraculously, he was alive again. But what was Crowley doing here? And why wasn't Castiel killing him?

Crowley moved past them then, and he looked at Gail as if reading her mind. "You're welcome," he said sardonically. "Remember me on my birthday. I'll send you my sizes."

Gail looked up at Castiel again, puzzled. He wanted to explain to her what had happened, but he could still barely believe it himself, and his throat was choked with emotion. "What's he talking about?" Gail asked Castiel, but it was Crowley who spoke again.

"We'll save it for the happy family reunion we're all bound to have one day soon," he said to her, "but for now, I'd better conclude my business here before I have to turn in my membership card." He was standing in front of Bobby now, who was looking up at Crowley in horror. "I guess I owe you one as well," Crowley murmured to Bobby. "Rather you than Xavier."

Then he reached out his hand and touched Bobby's forehead with the palm of his hand. Bobby shrank from his touch, but the movement was half-hearted, and the red glow emanated from Crowley's hand and Bobby's skull absorbed it.

"And now, WE'RE even," Crowley said to Bobby. As Bobby started to straighten up in his chair, Crowley wheeled on Castiel and Gail, who were still locked in each other's arms. "I'll be in touch," he said to Castiel. "We have to talk about Metatron." Then he snapped his fingers and he was gone.

Back behind his desk in Hell, Crowley thought about what he had just done. A large part of him was regretting it already. After all the bad blood that had been between them since Creation, did he really think that Castiel was going to just forgive and forget? Even if they were to somehow manage to put aside their mutual enmity long enough to kill Metatron, what would happen afterwards if they were successful? Would things just return to status quo, with each Brother trying to kill the other until the end of time? Yes, probably. Crowley sighed. He'd had an inexplicable moment of weakness; that was all. It was not as if they were ever going to have that warm and fuzzy family reunion that he had joked about a moment ago. He smiled as he pictured himself sitting at the table in the bunker, having a drink with Bobby and Moose and Squirrel while Gail put a turkey on the table and Castiel sharpened the carving knife. His Brother would be sharpening a knife all right, but it would not be a turkey he would be carving up.

But a very small part of Crowley had to admit that it had been gratifying to be the good guy for once. Whatever else happened in the future, they could never take that away from him. And there was something else, something he would never admit out loud even if he were to be strapped to his own torture rack for eternity: When Crowley had seen Castiel and Gail's joyful reunion, he had felt a brief moment of warmth for the couple. So that was what real love looked like. Pity he had never experienced it for himself. He supposed he could let them have that, for however long they were able to have it.

Bobby got to his feet and stared at Cas and Gail. "What the hell was that all about?" he asked them.

Gail looked closely at his face. Bobby's eyes were clear and the expression of fear was gone. "How do you feel, Bobby?" She had gently disengaged herself from Cas's arms but continued to hold tightly to his hand. She was never letting go of that hand again.

"Fine," he answered. "Never better." And it was true. Crowley had restored his sanity, and Lucifer was gone.

Bobby looked at Cas. "So you're really here? You're alive?"

"I'm really here, Bobby," Cas said, smiling.

"What the hell was Crowley doing here?" Bobby asked him.

Cas paused. He could see Gail turn her head to look at him as Bobby asked the question, but he continued to look at Bobby for the moment. If he looked at Gail right now, the lump would start to form in his throat again and he would be rendered speechless. He still couldn't believe he was standing here, alive, feeling her hand in his own.

"I know it's hard to believe, but he's the one who brought me back," Cas replied. "And then he brought me here."

"What? Crowley brought you back?" Gail said incredulously. "But..." She was so astonished that she couldn't finish the sentence.

Bobby felt the same way, but he was himself again, and he was not shy about asking the question: "Why, Cas? Why would he do that?"

Cas's brow furrowed. "I don't know. I really don't know."

They were all silent for a moment, thinking about it. It made no sense. There had to be a reason for Crowley's sudden largesse. He'd mentioned Metatron just before leaving. Could it have something to do with him?

But for now, they had fences to mend, and some business to take care of.

Gail reluctantly let go of Castiel's hand and stepped forward to face Bobby. "I'm so sorry," she said to him. "I shouldn't have done what I did to you."

Cas was puzzled by that. What could she be talking about? Did that have anything to do with Crowley's comment back in Heaven? He'd thought that was just Crowley, trying to be funny. But he could wait to find out. The clock had reset on his and Gail's relationship, and they would have the time now to make up for what they'd lost.

"Forget it, Gail," Bobby said to her. He had apologies of his own to make, and a couple of things he needed to get off his chest. But they were not going to do it here.

"Let's go," he said to the Angels. "We've got to talk to Sam and Dean, and then we've got to go back to Heaven and kick Xavier's ass."

Sam and Dean! They needed to see that Cas was alive and that Bobby was OK now. Although Gail knew they were going to have a hard time believing who was responsible for both of those things. She supposed it wasn't without precedent; Crowley had brought both of the Winchesters back to life in Dallas, but that had apparently been because he'd wanted the opportunity to kill them himself. This situation was quite different. But there wasn't an altruistic bone in Crowley's body, Gail was sure of it. So what was the catch?

But they'd worry about that later. Right now, they had a date with Sam and Dean.

They'd agreed that Bobby would go to the bunker first, alone. It was startling enough when they made their sudden appearances to the brothers without all three of them popping in at once, especially Cas, who the Winchesters now thought to be dead. Bobby had been about to suggest that maybe Gail should be the first one to go, but he saw the way she was looking at Cas and he thought they could use a few moments alone. So it was agreed that Bobby would appear to Sam and Dean and show them that he was cured, then tell them that Cas was alive and well and coming for a visit. He would call the couple on Angel Radio afterwards.

Sounded good to Gail. She was looking forward to having a minute or two alone with Cas.

Bobby winked out of the room and Gail turned to Cas. "Let's go sit in the park across the street," she said, smiling. "I've missed the fresh air."

Castiel smiled back. He had, too.

She kept touching him to make sure he was real, and Cas didn't mind. They were sitting on a bench in the park, enjoying the sun and the sounds of birds chirping. Though it was summer now, the early morning air was cool enough and they sat comfortably and quietly, enjoying a moment of serenity after all they'd been through recently in Heaven.

"I still can't believe you're here," Gail said to him. She touched his face.

Cas loved it when she did that. He never thought he'd feel her hand on his face again, or ever see her again. His last memory of Gail had been a horrifying one: Jason holding her head while she screamed at seeing him stabbed to death. Right now Cas's heart was filled with love, but he would have to negotiate with Bobby to arrange a nice long torture session with Jason before Castiel killed him.

Inspired by her touch on his face and the peacefulness of the setting, Cas said, "I love you, Gail. Alive, or dead. Always and forever. Never doubt that."

Gail searched his eyes. It was a very sweet and romantic thing to say, but why would he add that last part? Had she said she doubted it?

Cas was a little surprised himself. He wasn't sure why he'd put it that way, either; the words had just come out of his mouth. For a moment, he'd had a brief vision of the two of them apart, separated by an ocean, alone and miserable without each other. As if that were possible. That time in the void must have addled his brain; he would never let that happen.

Gail now had a brief vision too, and hers was even more disturbing. She had seen Aurielle standing over Castiel with a book in her hand. Castiel was tied to a chair; his shirt was open and there were strange symbols painted on his chest. What the hell?

But they both shook off what they'd seen and never brought it up in conversation. Nor did they talk about Castiel's execution, or Crowley, or Metatron. Instead, she began to kiss his face softly and tenderly, grateful with every kiss that she was able to do so.

Cas let her keep on doing that for a while, smiling. He was also grateful to be here and to be able to feel what she was doing.

Gail saw him smile. "Sorry, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop doing that for a while," she said teasingly.

"Who's complaining?" he quipped.

They laughed, and it felt so good to be laughing together again. They had received a true miracle today, and from the unlikeliest of sources, and they intended to make the most of it.

So, in that spirit, Cas leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth in the human way. Surprised, she responded, and when his hands began to touch her as they'd done in Las Vegas, she moved closer to him.

After a moment, they broke the kiss and looked at each other, eyes wide. What on earth was going on? They were Angels, not humans.

"Not that I mind," Gail breathed, "but what was that, now?"

"I don't know," Cas said, equally mystified. Then he smiled. "But I think when all this is over and Bobby is reinstated in Heaven, we'll have to go somewhere private and find out."

Gail smiled too. "I agree," she told him.

Cas was moving in to kiss her again when they got the call on Angel Radio. Sam and Dean were looking forward to seeing them, Bobby said.

Cas made a face. "Bobby's timing is as bad as Dean's," he said, remembering that last morning in Las Vegas.

Gail laughed. She remembered it, too. But, who cared? They'd be reunited with their friends now, then they'd go to Heaven with Bobby to kick a few rear ends, and then, when the time was right, they'd talk about what was happening here. Or maybe they wouldn't talk much at all, she thought mischeviously. She was looking forward to that non-conversation very much.

They winked into the bunker, and Sam and Dean were standing, waiting for them. Bobby was seated at the table, and he smiled when Dean rushed forward to hug Cas. Surprised, Cas returned the hug. He felt tears prickle at his eyes again. Though they'd been close friends for years, Dean had never done that before. But this was a special occasion. Cas had thought he would never see the Winchesters again.

Sam moved forward to hug Cas too, and Gail hung back, smiling. As glad as she was for herself that Castiel was alive, she was equally glad for Sam and Dean. His absence would have left a huge void in their lives, one that could never be filled, and they obviously felt that, too.

The men took their seats at the library table, sniffling back the tears they'd been trying not to shed. Gail sat in her usual spot beside Cas, giving him a minute to compose himself. She was glad she wasn't a man. They were indoctrinated at birth that shedding a few tears was somehow shameful and unmanly, whereas she could cry all day long and all any of them would do would be to hand her a tissue or hug her for comfort. She guessed double standards worked both ways.

But Gail didn't feel like crying now; she was far too happy. Besides, she'd cried enough in the past year to fill an ocean. She looked at Sam, who was still grinning at Cas. "So, what's new?" she quipped. Sam looked at her for a moment and then laughed. That was Gail, and he loved her for it.

Bobby cleared his throat. "Now that we're all here, there are a couple of things I wanna say," he told them.

"Say what you need to say, Bobby," Gail sighed, resigned. She was ashamed of her behaviour towards him now. It was Xavier and the board who had executed Cas, not Bobby. What was he supposed to have done, come back to run Heaven with the majority of his mind gone and Lucifer on his shoulder? She'd taken out her grief and anger at Castiel's death on the wrong person.

But Bobby surprised her. "I don't blame you for having been mad, Gail," Bobby told her. "I would have been too, in your situation." He had heard her thoughts again, of course. He was God after all, and now that his mind was his own again and he didn't have the distraction of his delusions, Bobby could hear her loud and clear. "You already apologized to me, anyway," Bobby continued. "But I have to apologize to you, and to Cas."

"You don't need to apologize to us, Bobby," Cas said softly.

"Yeah, I do," Bobby answered him. "If I hadn't walked out of Heaven, they wouldn't have killed you."

"You couldn't have ruled Heaven in the state you were in," Cas told him. "I'm just glad that you're all right now."

Dean stirred impatiently in his chair. This apology-fest was getting to him. "What the hell, Cas? What are they doing up there? They actually killed you? Why?" he said angrily.

Sam interjected, "What he means is, whose ass do you need us to kick, and when can we get started?" He grinned.

"Yeah, pretty much," Dean agreed. But he couldn't smile. He was still too angry.

Cas sighed, squeezing Gail's hand. "When Xavier took over Heaven - " he looked at Bobby apologetically, but Bobby shook his head briefly as if to tell him he'd better not apologize, so Cas continued. "When Xavier took over Heaven, I was the only one standing in the way of his taking over the High Office permanently. When Bobby disappeared, I said I would take the Office just to prevent Xavier from taking it. Once I'd said that, I was bound to Heaven's laws. The ancient rules required me to submit to the tribunal process, but as you know by now, I wasn't prepared to do that." He looked at Gail and she smiled.

"So we ran away," Cas went on. "And it was great for a while, but we were constantly worried about Jason coming after you two. Plus, we met a very special couple in Vancouver and they got us thinking about what Heaven would be like under Xavier's rule. Then Jason found you, and we realized we couldn't run away from the problem and hope it was going to go away, so we surrendered ourselves."

Dean remembered Gail having told him and Sam that when she'd briefly visited them during the tribunal. He'd thought they were crazy, especially when she had told him how the tribunal was going and about the hatchet job Xavier was doing on Cas. But Cas was Cas, and Dean shouldn't have expected anything different from him.

"He railroaded you, Cas," Sam said, somewhat obviously. "I saw those so-called ancient laws, and they're ridiculous. No one could stand up to that kind of scrutiny. And it was a clear conflict of interest, having the guy who wanted the job running the show."

Cas nodded. He knew that, of course. "I have to thank you for trying to help, Sam." He couldn't resist adding, "I was impressed that you were able to wade through the ancient language. It always gives me a headache."

As Cas and Sam smiled at each other, Bobby said, "I was going to address some of those 'ancient laws'. We'll have to modernize things. But first, we'll have to figure out who's gonna sit on the new board." He looked at Cas and grinned. "I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of vacancies later today."

Cas smiled back at Bobby. He had a couple of ideas about that, and Gail might, as well. They'd definitely have to have that conversation when they got back to Heaven.

But for now, he wanted to tell Sam and Dean about the tribunal and the events surrounding it. He'd missed talking to his friends. At least Gail had seen the men a couple of times during the hearing once Xavier had released her from prison, but Cas himself had been cooped up in his cell throughout. He was not normally a very talkative individual, but Cas now found himself wanting to tell the Winchesters, and Bobby, what it had felt like to be put on trial, to have your life and your actions put under a microscope for everyone to see and to judge. After all, his friends had been there for much of it. But Cas had never really explained much to them at the time, feeling they should just take everything on faith and trust in him. But he had come to realize that was no way to treat your real family. Gail had helped him to see that it was wrong to shut out the people you cared about. And Castiel found that he needed the emotional support his friends provided. It had been very difficult for him to be locked away alone, wondering and worrying about them all, and about his own fate.

So Cas began to fill the men in on what had occurred at the tribunal, starting from the beginning. Sam and Dean had been aware of bits and pieces due to Gail's sporadic visits, but Bobby had shown up to the tribunal only to give his testimony, and then he had left to commit himself, so it was all news to him.

Cas told them about the mysterious Affidavit, which they were not even going to let him see until Chuck had pointed out the unfairness of its introduction, sight unseen.

"Chuck, huh?" Sam was bemused. Gail had told them that Chuck was now one of their most staunch supporters, but the brothers were still having trouble wrapping their heads around that.

"Yes, I know," Castiel said to him. "I had some difficulty with that at first - " he squeezed Gail's hand briefly and she smiled, remembering his angry reaction at the time, " - but he and Kevin were very vocal in their support. So much so that Ignatius had to warn them to stop disrupting the proceeding." He found that he could smile about that now.

But then Castiel's smile faded as he told them about Raphael's shocking appearance to testify. Sam and Dean knew about this too, but this was news to Bobby.

"How was that even possible?" Bobby asked.

"I still don't know," Cas said. He was starting to have his suspicions though, both about that and about the identity of the Signator to the Affidavit, but Castiel was not yet ready to share his supposition. "But his testimony was extremely damning. I did do those things."

Castiel looked at them all sadly. Though he did not believe he had deserved to be executed, especially by Angels like Xavier and the rest of the board, he still felt bad about many of the things that had come out at the tribunal. This time it was Gail who squeezed his hand, but she said nothing, nor did Bobby or the Winchesters. Cas was on a bit of a roll, and they all sensed he needed to get the whole thing off his chest so he could begin to put it behind him.

"Then Xavier claimed I wasn't allowed to ask Raphael any questions, although, thanks to Sam, we now know that wasn't true." He smiled again at Sam in acknowledgement, but it was a thin smile. The guilt Castiel felt for his actions was doing battle with the anger he also felt at the injustice of the proceeding. Raphael had conveniently omitted some very important facts which, if they had been allowed to come to light, might have mitigated the offense. Xavier had lied outright when he'd said that Castiel was not allowed to ask questions of witnesses, and by the time that Gail had had the chance to bring the rule book to Sam and he had found the loophole, Raphael had gone, and it was too late.

"Then, of course, there were all of the killings I've done over the years," Cas continued, frowning. "Many were justifiable, but many were not. Xavier called me to the stand to incriminate myself, and I did an excellent job of that; all I had to do was tell the truth."

A silence hung over the room. The men knew all too well what he was talking about on that score. But they were his friends, and they were not about to condemn him. They had all made mistakes in the past and had done things they wished they could take back. And Gail could count herself in that number, as well. Her heart hurt for Castiel, but she still said nothing. What could she say, really?

"And then I found out that Xavier was attempting to assess the death penalty against Gail in conjunction with the deaths of the Enforcement Angels that Jason brought to your motel room that night," Cas said to Sam and Dean. He had chosen his words carefully, but Gail sighed.

"It's OK, you can say it," she said to him. Gail looked at the others. "What Cas is so diplomatically trying not to say is that I killed an Angel that night, and he just happened to be the son of one of the board members."

Dean winced. He remembered that night all too well. Jason and his squad had overpowered him when Sam had left the room to get something out of the car. Jason had tied Dean to a chair and stabbed him in the hand when Dean had tried to warn Sam not to come into the room. That wound had hurt like a son of a bitch until Gail was able to heal it for him when she showed up at the bunker. But Sam had seen the Angels through the window and had sent out the SOS to Cas and Gail, and the three of them had killed the squad before Cas and Gail gave themselves up to Jason. Dean hadn't actually gotten in on any of the action that night, much to his regret; by the time Sam and Cas had freed him, everyone was already dead except for Jason.

"Wow, that's gotta suck," Dean said to Gail. Castiel gave him a sharp look, but Gail laughed. Dean had always been able to make her laugh, even in the most serious of circumstances.

"Yes, it did," Cas said, rather stiffly. "When I learned that Xavier and the board were considering the death penalty for Gail on that charge, I made a deal with Xavier. Well, at least I thought it was a deal at the time. I told him I would plead guilty to all charges if he would drop that charge against her."

Bobby whistled, shaking his head. He hadn't known anything about any of these events, but he realized that Cas had been attempting to sacrifice his life for Gail's by arranging that deal.

"That was when I came to see Sam and Dean for the first time," Gail said to Bobby. Xavier released me from prison that night since I was no longer facing a capital charge. So I came here to tell them what was going on. I knew what Cas had done, and I was trying to help him." Another squeeze of the hand from Cas, and he looked at her with appreciation. He remembered how upset she'd been with him for making the deal, but he'd felt he had no choice at the time.

But it had not worked out that way. Castiel had also requested that Gail not be compelled to testify, wishing to spare her the ordeal, but Xavier had put her on the stand anyway and questioned her in excruciating detail.

He wasn't kidding, Gail thought, remembering how she'd felt on the stand.

"What would he have asked YOU about?" Sam said, curious.

Gail gave him a short laugh. "You name it, he asked about it. Crowley, Dallas, Vegas...I felt like I was on the 'E' channel and he was doing an expose," she quipped.

Sam smiled, appreciating her attempt at humour, but he could only imagine how embarrassing that would have been for her.

"And that's when we figured out that Xavier must have been in close contact with Crowley," Cas interjected. "He had knowledge that he could not possibly have had otherwise."

"Yeah, and when we tried to call him on it, the board basically told us to shut up and behave," Gail said irritably.

Cas smiled. That was certainly one way to put it. He'd been so angry at the time, though.

"And then Xavier called me a 'ho', and Cas had to defend my virtue. Such as it was." Dean gave her a funny look, and Gail had to laugh at his expression.

Unexpectedly, it was Castiel who laughed at that. He'd also found Dean's expression amusing. It was almost as if Dean himself was offended by Gail's use of the word.

Gail looked at Cas, surprised. She'd been going for a laugh, but he was the last person she'd expected it from. She took this as a good sign. Apparently, just talking about the ordeal with their friends was proving cathartic for him. But: "You know that expression?" she asked him, bemused.

"Urban slang," Cas replied, smiling. "I watch a lot of TV, as I know you know."

Then Dean and Sam did laugh, and Bobby smiled. They were so glad to have Cas back; he was one in a million.

Castiel fell silent then, and after a moment, Gail looked at him. His smile had faded, and it looked like he was having trouble articulating what he wanted to say.

"Let me guess," Bobby said. "That's when I showed up out of the blue."

Cas looked at him and nodded.

"And pulled the rug out from under you," Bobby continued, grimacing.

No one knew what to say to that. What had happened to Bobby wasn't his fault, but when he had testified that he was stepping down, Cas and Gail had felt betrayed. That was why Cas was so reticent now.

"And God told me to do it," Bobby said.

Everyone looked at him, stunned. "What did you say?" Cas exclaimed.

Bobby was frowning. This had been one of the things he'd needed to get off his chest.

"I went batcrap crazy in Lucifer's cage. You all know that by now," Bobby said. "The first thing I remember after getting yanked out of there is standing in front of God in the Garden. He told me He'd pulled me out of the cage and cleaned my mind." Bobby smiled wryly. "I guess even He can't cure crazy, or He thought He had. Anyway, He told me He was sending me up to testify at the tribunal, but I had to say I was resigning."

Castiel was floored. Why on earth would his Father have said that? Surely He'd known what the implications would have been. Had this been God's way of punishing him for all the wrongs he had committed in the past? But if that was the case, why now, and why in such a harsh manner? Did his Father actually think so little of him that He'd been willing to see Castiel put to death? And even if He had not known that the board would vote the ultimate penalty, which seemed impossible, why had He allowed it to be carried out? And what of Gail's suffering? Had her ordeal merely been collateral damage, or was their Father trying to send them a message of some sort?

Seeing the look on Cas's face, Bobby hastily added, "Look, Cas, I couldn't have done the job at that point, anyway." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, feeling badly for his friend. He didn't know why God had been so bound and determined for the tribunal to continue, either.

Wow, Gail thought. Just...wow. How would it feel to know that the Father you'd loved and served for so many years had basically set you up to be killed? Yes, Cas had rebelled against Heaven, but never against God Himself, just against Heaven and some of the stuff that went on there. And after what they'd just gone through, she couldn't blame him for having done so, not one bit.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances. They also couldn't believe it. They'd heard that God could be vengeful, but this was ridiculous.

"Cas..." Dean started to say, but he really didn't know what to say.

But Cas surprised them again. "I know, Dean. You're going to say that it sucks. And it does." He smiled, but it was a sad smile. He was used to his Father's enigmatic ways. He'd been the same way since Creation. Just because Castiel had changed did not mean that God had. This particular mystery was proving to be a more bitter pill to swallow, but he had no choice but to try. God did not have to explain Himself to the likes of Castiel. But this hurt was going to take a while to get over.

Castiel sighed. "Anyway, you all know the rest. The tribunal concluded, and the board sentenced me to die. They also assessed a five-year prison term for Gail."

"On that morals thing?" Sam asked, astonished.

"No," Castiel replied. "Xavier betrayed me once again. He said because I didn't hold up my end of the deal by pleading guilty to all of the charges, that he had put the capital charge for Gail back on the table. I had fully intended to follow through on the guilty plea, but Xavier never expressly stated in the hearing that he was dropping that charge against her, and he put her on the stand anyway. We had a verbal agreement, or so I thought. But I wasn't going to just offer myself up to him if he was not going to honour our agreement."

"Sounds like when you made that gentlemens' agreement, you were one gentleman short," Bobby quipped, but he was angry on Cas's behalf. He and Xavier were going to have a nice long chat when they got back to Heaven.

Cas smiled at Bobby appreciatively. "Yes," he agreed. "So they took us back to prison and told me my execution would be carried out the next day." He saw Sam's expression. "No drawn-out appeals process in Heaven," he said sardonically. Of course, the speed with which the sentence was carried out may have also ensued from his almost accidental murder of the two bailiffs after the sentencing, Castiel thoguht wryly. But he wasn't prepared to talk about that right now. This recitation of events had been both necessary and beneficial for Cas, but he had talked a lot, and he was nearly done. He would have to spend some time in quiet contemplation later to process his lingering feelings of guilt, and his hurt over his Father's betrayal. Then he'd talk to Gail about it.

"They wouldn't even let me see him...before," Gail said bitterly. "He had to spend that last night alone."

The men were somber. Imagine sitting alone in a prison cell, knowing you were going to be put to death in the morning, and by Angels.

"But they let me see him the next morning, all right," Gail continued, and now the bitterness was practically dripping off her tongue. She had a few residual feelings of her own to process. "I had a front-row seat. Jason forced me to watch."

Dean saw red. Those sadistic sons of bitches. Were they Angels, or Demons?

"My God, Gail," Sam said softly.

"I know," she said softly. Tears sprang to her eyes at the memory, and Cas squeezed her hand again in support.

"Are you sure you can't sneak us into Heaven somehow, just long enough to kick some ass?" Dean said to Bobby. He was beyond angry, but he was also trying to break the mood.

And it worked, to a certain extent. But instead of smiling, Gail looked at him and said something shocking: "And the Executioner was Metatron!"

What? Dean nearly leaped out of his chair. She had to be kidding with this.

Castiel looked at Gail. He hadn't believed her when she'd screamed that out at the execution, but Crowley had also mentioned Metatron's name before disappearing from Bobby's room, and Cas now had a tickle in his brain. It was like there was something in there he couldn't quite bring to the surface.

Gail saw his look. "I didn't tell you because I didn't want to make it worse, if that would have even been possible," she told him now, "but Chuck told me he had a vision that it was Metatron."

Castiel thought about this. Chuck's visions were usually astonishingly accurate, but he still found it hard to believe. How could Metatron have been in Heaven? After Metatron had killed Gail in Las Vegas, Bobby had sent him back to Hell to spend eternity with Crowley. And even if Metatron had somehow managed to sneak back into Heaven, if he had been Castiel's Executioner that would mean that Xavier had welcomed him back into the fold. Why would he do that? Whatever Xavier's feelings towards Castiel might be, why on earth would he ever allow the worst Angel in recent history to re-enter Heaven? Metatron was pure evil, and a scourge to any realm he inhabited. Chuck had to be wrong. But there was that tickle again. What couldn't Cas remember?

He remembered the next thing he wanted to tell the Winchesters very clearly, though, and if they thought they'd been shocked a moment ago, that had been nothing.

"So I was executed, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up, and Crowley was standing over me," Cas told the brothers. That wasn't quite all he remembered, but again, he wasn't ready to share everything yet. He had his reasons. But he couldn't help it; he smiled in anticipation of the reaction to come. "He had brought me back to life."

And Cas wasn't disappointed. Dean did leap out of his chair then. "Come on, Cas!" he yelled.

Sam sat back in his chair, rolling his eyes. Cas had to be pulling their legs, and his were long enough, thanks. "Crowley," he said sarcastically. "Right."

"It's true," Gail told them. "He showed up in Bobby's room at the hospital, telling me to thank him." She smiled at the memory of seeing Cas again after she thought she'd lost him forever, and Cas smiled back at her. He leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek, and she touched his face. Out of all the reunions they'd had since they'd been together, that one had been the sweetest.

Bobby cleared his throat. As much as he was enjoying his angel friends' joy in being together again, he was getting impatient to finish up here so they could get to Heaven and clean house.

"Sorry, Bobby," Cas said. But he was still smiling, and he was not the least bit sorry. He looked at Dean, who was still standing. "Sit down, Dean. I don't blame you and Sam for being skeptical. But it's true nonetheless. Crowley brought me back to life, then he brought me back to Gail, and then he cured Bobby. And just before he left, he told me we would have to talk about Metatron."

Dean sat back down, but slowly. Unbelievable.

"Why would he do all that?" Sam asked Cas.

Cas shrugged. He really didn't know, either. His feelings about the subject were another thing he was going to have to examine carefully. Since the time of Creation and the first murder, the only feelings he and Crowley had had towards each other had been those of hatred. When his Brother had risen up and killed him in the Garden, for no good reason at all, he had sparked the war between them which had raged on all this time. The enmity long predated Gail's entrance into their lives, but the fact that Crowley had targeted Gail and her family since Day One had obviously not helped the situation. Once Castiel realized he was in love with Gail, he'd reached a new level of hate for Crowley when he had kidnapped her and almost succeeded in turning her into a Demon. Then Crowley had turned around and made Gail's brother Frank into a Demon instead, out of pure spite. And Frank remained in Hell to this day. They hadn't talked about that in a while, preoccupied with the tribunal and their own resulting tragedy, but Castiel knew that Gail's brother's status was a cause of constant sorrow for her, made worse by the fact that Crowley had dangled Frank as bait to try to draw him and Gail out for Jason to capture. Was it any wonder he wanted to kill Crowley?

Cas sighed. He was done talking. Sensing this, Gail looked at Bobby and said, "So, what do you say? Want to go back and kick a few rear ends?"

Bobby grinned. "I thought you'd never ask," he said.

So there were hugs all around for Sam and Dean, and the three Angels went back to Heaven.

Sam went to the fridge and got a beer for Dean and one for himself. They sat at the table and drank in silence for a moment.

"Holy crap," Dean breathed, shaking his head. "Just...holy crap."

Sam nodded. He couldn't agree more.

Bobby, Cas and Gail appeared in the reception area outside the High Office. Laurel stood immediately behind her desk and opened her mouth, preparing to greet them joyfully, but Bobby put a finger to his lips and motioned his head to the closed door of the office.

Laurel closed her mouth and nodded, smiling. She understood. She sat back down quietly. She was so glad to see Bobby back, and she couldn't wait for him to kick Xavier out of his office.

Bobby tried to resist for about a second, but he really couldn't help himself. He raised his hand and blasted the door off its hinges, then he walked in with Castiel and Gail behind him.

"You're in my chair," Bobby said to Xavier. "Get your ass out of it, go get the rest of the board, and meet us in the conference room."

Cas and Gail grinned at each other, and at the stricken expression on Xavier's face. He stood up and stared at Bobby.

"You resigned," he said. Then he noticed Castiel standing behind Bobby, and Xavier's face went white. "And you're dead," he said to Cas. Xavier was stunned, uncomprehending. What the hell was going on here?

Gail continued to smile. It looked like Xavier might finally be having that stroke she and Cas had hoped for a while back. And she might have to do some penitence for it, but she was going to have to do a little dance at his funeral.

"I changed my mind," Bobby retorted, and Cas quipped, "So did I."

Xavier still stood there, his shock rooting him to the spot. How could this be? If only he'd been able to find the vial he'd locked in his desk. After Castiel's execution, Xavier had come back here intending to ingest the contents of the vial and acquire God's powers, but the vial was gone. Metatron had planted the memory in Xavier's mind that it was he who had the vial, not Metatron. So Xavier distinctly remembered having locked the vial in his desk for safekeeping, but it had not been where he'd left it, and he had turned the office upside down looking for it, but to no avail. If he had been able to ingest God's powers, he could have faced off with Bobby. But as it stood, he could not beat Bobby, and they all knew it.

Resigned to the current situation, Xavier moved out from behind the desk and walked to where Bobby stood. He was about to keep going when Bobby grabbed him by the arm, likely a bit rougher than was necessary. "And everyone had better be there, Xavier," Bobby said grimly. "Bring Jason and Aurielle, too," he added.

He let go of Xavier's arm and Xavier walked past Gail. She didn't know whether to smile or to glare at him, so her expression was a peculiar mixture of both.

Then Xavier looked at Castiel. There was so much Cas wanted to say to Xavier, but it could wait. Cas was content for the moment to let Bobby take charge, and he was very much looking forward to the upcoming meeting.

Xavier left the office and walked past Laurel, who was smiling widely. The business with the door had been a nice touch on her boss's part, she thought. She'd never been so glad to see anyone in all her existence.

Bobby turned to Cas and Gail. Then he looked at the front entrance of the office and quipped, "Well, I believe in an open-door policy, anyway."

Cas and Gail laughed, and not to be outdone, Gail said, "I wonder if Heaven has any carpenters. Well, besides the one."

Castiel had seldom been happier. Bobby was back, he himself was alive, and Gail had her hand on his arm and she was smiling up at him. And now their enemies were going to get their comeuppance.

Xavier rushed into his old office, where Jason was standing, talking to Aurielle. "Bobby's back," he told them breathlessly, "and he's got Castiel and Gail with him."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "You're clearly working too hard, Xavier," he said dryly. "You're starting to have hallucinations."

But Xavier was too panicked for repartee. "I can assure you I'm not. Bobby wants me to bring the board together in the conference room, and he wants the two of you there also," he finished, nodding at Jason and Aurielle.

They looked at Xavier carefully. His expression was one of fear and panic. It must be true, somehow. And both Angels started to panic themselves, though for different reasons.

Jason knew if this was true, he was finished. He'd be lucky to get away with only losing his job. More likely was the very real possibility that Bobby would lock Jason in a room with Castiel and let his friend go to town. That's what Jason would do anyway, if the situation were reversed, and he knew Castiel must be chomping at the bit to exact revenge on him for his torture of Gail and role in making sure she saw Castiel die. Even if Bobby were to show Jason any compassion at all, Jason would very likely end up with a very long prison sentence and as soon as he was put in his cell, there would be Castiel with a blade. And he doubted that Gail would get between them this time; in fact, she would probably hand Castiel the blade and cheer him on.

Meanwhile, Aurielle was fighting with herself. While she was overjoyed that Castiel was somehow miraculously alive, she knew he would be angry at her for having worked for Xavier throughout the tribunal. She deeply regretted that now. The only good that had come out of it was her acquisition of the spell book. She now believed it had come into her hands for a reason. When Castiel had been put to death, Aurielle had intended to use it to reanimate him. It appeared she wouldn't have to worry about that after all, she thought happily. She could feel Castiel's pull right now. She wanted to go to him and throw her arms around him, telling him how glad she was that he lived. Reanimation spell or not, Aurielle had been devastated to see him laying dead on the bier. She had hung back in the doorway of the viewing room, not wanting to enter while Gail was there, talking to Castiel's body and holding his hand as if she had the only right to grieve. But when everyone had left the viewing room, Aurielle had quietly let herself in and taken Castiel's hand for herself, talking softly to him as Gail had done. Telling him they would soon be together.

And now he was back, but Gail was with him, and Bobby would be angry with Aurielle for not keeping her nose clean. She knew what that expression meant now, and she had not done it. Bobby would likely put her in prison, at least for a short time; or worse, he might send her back to Purgatory. Either alternative was unacceptable to Aurielle. She needed her spell book and her freedom in order to work out a way to get Castiel for herself.

Jason looked at Aurielle. He'd had her figured out a long time ago, and he'd just had an inspiration.

"You go ahead, Xavier," Jason said to him. "We'll be there in a minute."

"All right," Xavier agreed. He had to convene the rest of the board members anyway. "But don't take too long. Bobby is very angry, and whether we like it or not, he is God."

Then Xavier wheeled around and hurried out of the office.

Jason looked at Aurielle again. "We'd better get out of here," he said to her. "You know what will happen to us if we go to that meeting."

Aurielle looked at him coolly. Yes, she knew, but what was this "we", all of a sudden? As if they were friends? Did he not think she'd seen his animosity, his mistreatment of Castiel?

"Look, there's no time to be coy here," Jason continued. "Bobby's about to rain fire and brimstone down on us. I know you're in love with Castiel. If you and I go down to Earth, I can help you get him."

She eyed him suspiciously. "And why should you want to do that? You hate him."

Jason paused. He strongly suspected this woman was crazy, but she was not stupid, regardless of how Xavier treated her. He had to proceed carefully. "I hate that he abandoned Heaven, when we needed him the most," he told her, hoping he wasn't laying it on too thick. "I guess I took that anger out on him when I shouldn't have. It's those Winchester humans and that so-called Angel Gail we should be angry at. They turned his face away from Heaven, and Gail has tempted him into an existence of sin by offering him sexual pleasure."

That hit Aurielle like a stab to the heart. She'd heard Gail's testimony in the tribunal, admitting to her sin with Castiel, but Bobby had turned them into humans at the time. That is, if it were even true. Aurielle had just about convinced herself that Gail had only been lying for Aurielle's benefit, staking her claim on Castiel by trying to convince everyone, especially Aurielle, that Castiel had given his heart and his body to Gail. That had been bad enough to contemplate, but was Jason now telling her that it was true, and it was still happening?

"No," she murmured, hardly aware that she was speaking aloud. "That can't be true. They are both Angels."

"I saw them kissing in his cell," Jason told her, suppressing his smile, "and he was kissing her in the human way. I'm sure things would have gone a lot further had I not interrupted them. His hands were on her body, and - "

"Stop!" Aurielle shouted. "Enough!"

This woman was indeed crazy, Jason thought with amusement. He'd embellished what he'd seen in the cell, and it was working like a charm. Was it enough to convince her?

Aurielle bent down and retrieved the spell book from her desk drawer, closing the drawer with a bang. She had retrieved it from her old desk upon learning that Castiel had been executed, keeping it with her at all times, studying it when she was alone. She may not need it to reanimate Castiel any more, but she could use it to make Gail pay.

"Let's go, then," she snapped at Jason. Because he had been to Earth on his missions, Jason could be of use to her. She was so angry, so jealous, that her diseased mind never stopped to consider that it might be the other way around.

She grabbed Jason's arm and they vanished from the office.

Laurel came into Bobby's office a few minutes after Xavier had exited. She glanced at the door, which was still laying haphazardly on the floor, and grinned at Bobby. "I admire your style," she said to him. "It's good to have you back."

Bobby smiled at her. "It's good to be back, Laurel."

Then Laurel looked at Cas and Gail. "It's good to see the two of you here, as well. A lot of us were very upset to hear of your treatment at Xavier's hands. Especially you, Castiel. I can't believe they actually - " she couldn't finish the sentence.

He smiled warmly at her. "Thank you, Laurel."

She turned back to Bobby. "Can I do anything for you, Bobby? Get you anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Bobby replied. Then, as she turned to leave, he said, "Actually, can you do me a favour?" She turned back. "Can you go over to the boardroom and let me know when everybody's there? It'll be the rest of the board, and Jason and Aurielle."

"Sure, Bobby," she said, and exited the office.

Bobby looked at Cas and Gail. "I just want to make sure they're all there before we go in and put the hammer down."

Cas smiled, but he was curious: "What are you planning to do, Bobby?"

Bobby sighed, sitting back in his chair. "You know, Cas, I honestly don't know. The human part of me wants to smite them all into oblivion. But what kind of a God would I be if I did that?" He frowned. "This job has turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for."

Cas looked concerned at that, but Bobby held up his hand. "Don't worry, I'm not talking about quitting. Again. It's just that...they have to be made aware that what they did was wrong, but I don't want to be too heavy-handed about it, ya know?"

"You can be as heavy-handed with Jason as you like," Cas growled.

Bobby understood how Cas felt, but he had meant what he said. He couldn't let his anger make him do something rash.

"What's going on with Aurielle?" Bobby asked them. "Does anybody know?" He was starting to feel like his decision to bring her back up to Heaven had been a very bad one. What was she doing working for Xavier?

Castiel sighed, looking at Gail. "She came to see me in my cell one night. There's something very wrong there, Bobby. I'm not sure exactly what it is."

"I am," Gail said. "She's got a thing for Cas. I might think it was kind of cute if she hadn't already tried to kill me once."

Cas frowned, both at the memory of that horrible day in Dallas, and at the memory of Aurielle touching his face when she'd come to see him in prison. He took Gail's hand, then looked at Bobby.

"We've got to do something about her, Bobby," Cas said insistently.

Bobby nodded. He agreed. But again, what? "What do you think I should do, Cas?"

Cas shifted in his chair. He didn't know, either. He just knew he didn't want her around Gail, or around him, either. It had made him uncomfortable when Gail had said what she said just now about Aurielle. Castiel wasn't as oblivious as others seemed to think about the way some females regarded him. He just had never really thought about it much, nor cared about it before. But now that he was with Gail, he did not want there to be any reason for her to question his love for and loyalty to her. And he honestly was worried that Aurielle posed a danger to Gail. But she had not actually done anything to either of them since her return to Heaven; it was just a feeling.

Gail had that feeling too, and it was a very bad one. She thought about the vision she'd had recently when she and Cas had been talking on the bench in the park outside the mental hospital. Where had that come from? Who was she, Chuck, all of a sudden? Maybe it had been a manifestation of the stress Gail had felt over Castiel's execution, but the image had been vivid, and it had come out of the blue. Gail also wanted a resolution about Aurielle so she wouldn't have to keep replaying that image in her head. Hadn't she and Castiel had enough to worry about lately?

Laurel poked her head in the doorway and said, "The board members are all there now, Bobby."

"Good." He stood, and so did Castiel and Gail.

But Laurel was frowning. "What's the matter, Laurel?"

"Jason and Aurielle aren't there," she said.

Bobby, Cas and Gail exchanged glances.

"Xavier said to tell you he told them to come," Laurel continued, "but then he swung by his office on the way to the boardroom, and they were gone."

As they walked to the boardroom, Bobby said, "I still have no idea what we're going to do with these guys. If you two want to weigh in at any time, feel free."

Gail was a little amused by that. Imagine, God asking for her opinion. She had really come up in the world.

But Castiel was preoccupied. As the three of them entered the boardroom, he could see that Jason and Aurielle were not there, and this worried him. Where were they? And the fact that they had both not shown up seemed awfully coincidental. He had seen them sitting side by side at Xavier's table at the tribunal and even though it seemed like they'd rarely spoken to each other, he wondered if they had taken off together. Great. Bobby was about to deal with the board members, but two of the most worrying threats to Gail and himself were gone.

Bobby took his seat at the end of the conference table and Castiel pulled out a chair for Gail to sit beside him at Bobby's right hand. As she sat down, Xavier fixed her with a baleful stare.

"Yes, Xavier? Can I help you with something?" she said.

Xavier looked at Bobby. "Why is she here? She's not a board member."

Bobby looked at him, incredulous. After all the crap this guy had pulled, he was leading off with that? "Actually, Xavier, neither are you," he reorted. "As of right now, neither are any of you."

It was Xavier's turn to look incredulous. "What do you mean?" he asked Bobby. "We're the Upper Echelon."

Castiel laughed derisively. "Upper Echelon," he said sarcastically. "What does that even mean?"

"Probably nothing to you," Alexander retorted. The board members had been speaking to each other before Castiel got here, so they knew that he was somehow alive, and that Bobby had come back to retake the Office. But Xavier and Alexander were the hardest of the hardliners. They still felt the same way as they had when they'd convened the tribunal. The fact that Castiel was sitting here when he should be in his grave mystified them, but his continued rebellious attitude enraged them. And the fact that he had brought the female into the meeting to sit with them at the table as if she were an equal was unacceptable to them.

"You're right, Alexander. It means nothing to me," Castiel replied coldly. "Not when I have to sit here and look at the Angels who put me to death and forced my girlfriend to watch."

Gail felt like clapping. She was looking at the board members' faces to see how they would react to what Castiel had said. Daniel and Gregory had their heads down and were looking at the table. Xavier and Alexander were staring at them defiantly. And Ignatius was looking at her directly with a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite read, while Lanister was glaring at her as if he would like to leap across the table and strangle her with his bare hands. But then, she supposed that was understandable. It had been his son that she had killed in the Winchesters' motel room.

"I'm sorry about your son," Gail said quietly to Lanister. Whatever the board had done to Castiel, and which she could never forgive them for, she did feel some regret for that.

Lanister stood suddenly, but Castiel also stood, moving in front of Gail to protect her. "An eye for an eye makes us all blind," he said to Lanister. After a tense moment, Lanister sat back down, but he continued to glare at the couple.

Castiel sat down slowly. Gail put her hand on his arm and he put his hand on her leg absently. He'd thought that he wanted to tell these men off, read them the riot act about being put to death by one's supposed peers and being judged by people who you felt were in no position to cast the first stone. But Cas had unburdened himself to his friends at the bunker and that had proved therapeutic, but talking to these men would just prove to be an exercise in frustration. They would never understand him, or the way he felt. And did he even care?

Cas felt Gail softly kiss his cheek, and he smiled. She understood him, and that was the only thing that mattered. He gave her leg a brief squeeze in appreciation of her affectionate gesture.

"Can you refrain from this disgusting display, at least until we are permitted to leave the room?" Xavier said.

Disgusting? Castiel looked at him. He'd have thought Xavier was kidding, if Xavier had any discernible sense of humour.

But it was Gail who spoke. "Oh, would you just get off it, Xavier?" she said. She'd had it with this guy. "Did you not get hugged enough as a child? Why do our displays of affection bother you so much?"

"Affection is one thing; sinning is another," Xavier replied stiffly.

"So we're sinning, are we? Whose opinion is that, Xavier? Yours?" she shot back.

"No. Heaven's," he retorted.

She was angry now. "Yeah, well, maybe my love life is none of Heaven's business!" Gail was still smarting from Xavier's questioning of her at the tribunal, and his holier-than-thou attitude. Here was the Angel who had used Metatron to execute Castiel so he could rise to power, and he was lecturing her about morality.

"Oh, but it is," Xavier answered back. "You are Angels, and you should behave as such. It is wrong, and it is a sin."

Gail rolled her eyes, sitting back in her chair. Why did she even bother?

Suddenly, the door to the conference room opened and God walked in.

"I might have an opinion about that," He said.

Everyone in the conference room was stunned. As God walked over to where Bobby, Castiel and Gail sat, Bobby moved to rise, but God waved him to sit back down. "That's your chair, Bobby. I'll take another. You have the con." He put one hand each on Castiel and Gail's shoulders. "Well said, my Daughter," He remarked to Gail, giving her a warm feeling inside. Then He gave Xavier a withering look. "I hope my show of affection has not offended you, Xavier. I know you have your reasons, but you have to back off," God said with a smile in his voice. But His expression was serious. He'd had it with Xavier for the moment.

Xavier squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He did not want to be disrespectful to his Father, but how could He possibly be all right with this? "They are Angels, my Lord, and they are unmarried," he said, but in a more subdued tone.

"So you say," God said, drawing up a chair next to Castiel.

Xavier looked at Him uncomprehendingly, and so did Castiel. He was overjoyed to see his Father, even though His arrival at this late stage was puzzling. And what had He meant by that?

God looked at Xavier and the rest of the board members. "You all killed my Son, and you have defamed my Daughter. You owe them an apology, at the very least. I'm not sure which of you is the worst. Is it he who knows that something is wrong, but does not speak up? Is it he who decides to take a life based on pure vengeance? Or those who allow their personal prejudices and ambitions to cloud their judgment and convince themselves that they are somehow superior to others, justifying any atrocities that they themselves commit along the way?"

Each Angel on the board recognized himself in what God was saying, and each had cause to feel ashamed. But only a couple of them, maybe three, were genuine in their feelings; the others only wore expressions of shame for their Father's benefit. He knew which was which, of course, but God did not acknowledge them individually. Their subsequent actions would serve to reveal who they really were.

But God was speaking directly to Xavier now. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I always liked that line."

Xavier's gaze wavered. Although his Father had been absent for the duration of the tribunal, Xavier knew that God had the ability to see anything at any time. How much had He seen?

Everyone in the room was about to find out.

"You had dealings with the King of Hell, and with Metatron," God said to Xavier. His voice was quiet, much like his Son's when he was at his angriest. "You availed yourself of Hell's methods to persecute your own kind. A number of Angels died at your own hand to facilitate this unholy pact. And you have the nerve to sit there and dictate morality."

So, what they'd accused Xavier of, or had tried to, was confirmed, Castiel thought. He found this did not surprise him nearly as much as it should have.

Gail was elated. Someone was finally exposing Xavier for the evil hypocrite he was. Could one give God a high-five? God looked sideways at her and smiled. Right. That mind-reading thing again. Sorry, she thought. "No need, my Daughter," God said aloud. "You have brought a breath of fresh air to Heaven, and it was sorely needed." Gail felt warm all over, happy to receive her Father's approval, and Castiel took her hand. He was glad to hear it, too. By supporting Gail, God was supporting him also, and his feelings for her.

God nodded at Castiel, acknowledging his thought. His Father had something to say on that subject, too. God looked at Xavier again.

"And as for these two particular children of mine, Gail is quite right. The love expressed between them is none of your business, and they do not have to justify themselves to the likes of you, or to anyone. Not even me," He finished, with a trace of a smile on His face.

"But, Father," Xavier protested. "It is your laws that they are breaking. 'Thou shalt not-'"

God interrupted him sharply. "Do not quote my own words to me, Xavier. I know very well what the Commandments state, as I wrote them myself. And while you were busy breaking many of them yourself, there was something of which you were not aware."

"What is that?" Xavier said, curious. It was typical of him that he did not focus on God's admonishment of his own wrongdoings. Xavier still didn't really believe he'd done anything wrong.

God knew that, of course, but He had a point to make, and He intended to make it.

"Even if your interpretation of the Seventh Commandment is to be accepted," God said, "Castiel and Gail did not break it."

"They are unmarried, Father," Xavier insisted, and Gail rolled her eyes again. He was like a dog with a bone. Had Xavier one been dumped by a woman, or something? Why was he so obsessed with this? "And even prior to the Las Vegas offense, they were living together," Xavier continued. "Who knows how long the sinning has been going on?"

"But even if it should make a difference, which I determine it does not, it is a moot point," God said calmly. "The Angels Castiel and Gail are already married. I married them myself."

WHAT?! Gail thought. And of course, that thought was so loud that both Bobby and God turned their heads to look at her. Sorry, she thought sheepishly, and they both smiled.

Castiel squeezed her hand, and said, "How is that, Father?" He was smiling, and he didn't seem shocked at all, merely curious.

"Before I retired, when the two of you visited me in my office," God said, then looked pointedly at Xavier as he continued, "when I offered YOU the job, Castiel." Xavier frowned. "The two of you declared your love for each other after I asked you how you felt," He said, turning His head back towards the couple. "As I was looking at you both at the time, you are hereby married in my eyes. Therefore, you have not sinned, by anyone's definition." He smiled at them. "Not that anyone else's definition really matters."

Don't think it, don't think it, Gail was trying to tell herself, but she thought it anyway: That was kind of ambiguous; are we actually married, or not?

And of course, God looked at her, and He smiled again. "That is up to the two of you to decide," He said. "Just one of several items you and my Son will have to discuss in the near future."

Then He turned back to face the board members. "We will be having a private meeting in Bobby's office now. You will all remain here until you are dismissed," He said to them. Then God stood from his chair. "Come with me," he said to Bobby, Castiel and Gail, and they exited the boardroom, leaving six very stunned and apprehensive Angels behind.

Once back in Bobby's office, God turned to him. "I didn't mean to steal your thinder, Bobby," He said. "I had intended to stop by to explain a few things to the three of you, and then I heard that you were wrestling with what to do about the board members, so I thought I'd come in. I hope that's all right."

Bobby's beard twitched with amusement. He hadn't had a whole lot to smile about lately, but it was kind of funny to think of God apologizing to him for barging into the meeting. Truthfully, Bobby had been glad to see Him. God had put the fear of, well, Himself into those bastards, and they deserved it. And Bobby had also been amused by what God had said about Cas and Gail being married. He'd have to let Sam and Dean in on this little gem once things were resolved here so they could all tease Cas about a belated bachelor party, just to see the look on his face.

But right now, to business. "Of course it's all right," Bobby said to God, bemused. "I could use your guidance."

"I'll take my old chair for this," God told him, moving behind his former desk. "I want to be able to talk to all three of you, and look at your faces." He waved His hand and a third chair appeared opposite the desk for Bobby.

After they'd all had a seat, God said, "I'm truly sorry for everything you've all been through. I needed to test a few of my children, and you have all paid the price. Perhaps I waited too long." He frowned, then continued. "A few have failed my test, and a few have passed with flying colours. And it appears there are still a few test scores to come in." He fell silent again.

Castiel was well used to his Father's manner of speaking, so he sat patiently, waiting for God to continue when He was ready. But Gail and Bobby exchanged puzzled glances.

"I'm glad to see that you're completely well again, Bobby," God said to him. "Lucifer's power remains strong after all these years, and time spent with him seems to leave a lasting effect. Kind of like a bad aftertaste. You will be glad to know that I chastised him severely after I liberated you from the cage."

Bobby wondered what a "severe chastisement" from God would be like. If he didn't hate Lucifer so much, he'd almost feel sorry for the guy.

"Then, after I set you in the Garden, I also had a chat with the King of Hell, and I expressed my displeasure at his actions." God smiled briefly, and sat back in the chair.

Gail's heart rejoiced at that, but then she thought about the fact that Crowley had been the one to return Castiel to her, and he had cured Bobby, too. Had God made him do these things to atone for everything else he'd done?

"I did not compel him to do anything." God answered her thought out loud. "Everything he did, he did of his own free will." Then He smiled. "Though I'm sure I was fairly persuasive."

God looked at Castiel. "I needed to give your Brother a test, to find out who he would really reveal himself to be when the chips were down," God said. "To use a poker metaphor." They smiled at each other.

Brother?! Bobby thought, and the thought was so loud that God put his hand to his head for a moment. "Out loud, Bobby, please," He winced. Since Bobby had most of his powers now, the shocked word had hit God like an explosion in His head.

"I'm sorry," Bobby said, "but what do you mean, his Brother?"

That's right, Gail thought. Bobby wouldn't know. It was only the Winchesters and herself who knew that Crowley and Castiel were actually brothers at the time of Creation, the original Cain and Abel.

God filled Bobby in on the story, and Bobby looked at Castiel in surprise. It actually explained a lot, he thought, but the concept was going to take some getting used to. He smiled wryly. Imagine having the King of Hell as your brother. And Sam and Dean thought they had squabbles from time to time.

"That's why I did not intervene sooner, and why I sent Bobby to the tribunal to advise he was going to resign," God explained to them. "The proceeding was to reach its tragic conclusion so my other Son could do the right thing. Finally." He smiled grimly.

"But how did you know that he would?" Castiel asked his Father curiously. "We don't exactly have a stellar history in that regard." He answered his Father's grim smile with one of his own.

Gail couldn't believe it. God had actually let them put Cas to death so He could perform an experiment? What if Crowley had decided to let it stand? As far as she knew, since Crowley had murdered Castiel in the Garden as Cain, he'd spent untold centuries trying to do it again. Why would he suddenly turn around and save him, then? And how come Crowley was able to bring people back from the dead, anyway? He'd done the same for Sam and Dean in Dallas. Why would such a miraculous power be awarded to such a reprehensible being?

God smiled at her. "I know you have many questions, Gail, and we'll get there, I promise. Just give it time." He'd been considering Castiel's question. The short answer was that God hadn't actually known for sure that Crowley would revive Castiel. He had been hoping he would, of course, but free will was an imprecise concept, hard to predict. But his Son did not need to know this. Castiel had suffered enough, and he seemed far less upset than most would be to find out that their Father had used them in this manner. He would need to reward His Son for his restraint.

"It's all right, Castiel, you have every right to be angry at me," God said to him.

Incredibly, Castiel smiled. "I was," he admitted. "But I made my peace the night before the execution, and I felt you were punishing me for all my past sins. Again," he couldn't resist adding.

God smiled. That was the Son he knew. Part Angel, part rebel. They'd talk about that, too. But he wanted to finish on the subject of Crowley first.

"I had hoped, and frankly expected, Crowley to bring you back, but his cure of you was a pleasant and unexpected bonus, Bobby," God said. "I had honestly thought that I had removed all of the insanity from your mind, but clearly, I was wrong. As I've said, Lucifer's influence is very strong. Originals are the strongest beings in the Angel hierarchy."

Originals? Gail thought, but God held up His hand. "Yeah, I know, we'll get there," she said aloud for a change, and they smiled at each other.

"Crowley brought Castiel back to life and he wiped the insanity from Bobby's mind, all of his own free will," God told them. "Now, I'm not saying that he necessarily deserves to be sitting with us here right now," He said dryly, "but he did do the right thing, in this instance, anyway." God also knew that Crowley had done the right thing when his Father had handed him back the knife in the Garden, after the other experiment that God had conducted. Crowley's revival of Castiel had served as the perfect counterbalance to Cain's murder of Abel at the very beginning of time. But even though Crowley's recent actions had been his own, God had given him the push to go back to the Garden and reenact the original murder. After seeing the way things would have turned out had it not occurred, God was glad for the status quo. He much preferred these incarnations of His children, especially the one of Castiel. It had hurt His heart to see what His favourite Son would have become, and God was gratified to see Castiel and Gail here together, holding hands. They would serve as a shining example to the rest of the Angels in Heaven.

Castiel sighed. "I'm sure I don't know why," he said in response to God's statement.

"Who cares?" Gail piped up, causing Cas to look at her in surprise. She hastily added, "I mean, I'm curious too, and I've also had plenty of reason to hate him throughout my lifetime. But what he did for you, and for Bobby..." her voice choked with emotion and she couldn't finish. The fact that Cas had been dead just recently was still so fresh, and so was the guilt she felt for having pushed Bobby back over the brink. She owed Crowley a huge debt now. What a strange thing to be thinking, but it was true, nonetheless.

God heard these thoughts, but He decided to address a prior thought of hers instead. "You were wondering about Originals, Gail, and I know Bobby is, too." Bobby gave a brief nod. God didn't mention Castiel, of course. He already knew about Originals, as he was one.

"Originals are beings that have been in existence since the time of the beginning," God explained. "As Crowley was Cain and Castiel was Abel, they are Originals. So is Lucifer. And, as he was my Scribe, so is Metatron."

Gail's eyes widened. Metatron! Him again?

God sighed. "Yes, I'm afraid so. And since three of my Originals are on the wrong side, I thought it was time to even it up a bit."

He looked at Castiel, including Gail in His glance. "When Bobby conferred the gift upon you both before you went to Las Vegas, he was converting you temporarily into humans, but he was also returning some of your powers to you, Castiel."

Cas looked at God, startled. Unlike Bobby and Gail, he knew what his Father was talking about. "My Original powers?" he asked, hope rising in his chest.

God smiled. His Son was going to have mixed feelings in a moment. "Yes, Castiel. All but the one."

Cas's heart sank immediately. The power to bring beings back from the dead was the one he'd wanted the most. Considering the kind of life he led with Gail, Dean, and Sam, that one would have come in very handy. And he had not forgotten that Jason and Aurielle were out there somewhere.

But Bobby and Gail were still confused. What were God and Cas talking about?

"When I sent Castiel down to Earth as a mortal human, I hadn't meant that to be a permanent thing," God attempted to explain to them. "But I was disappointed in him, and I let the anger get the best of me."

Bobby murmured something about the apple not falling far from the tree, and Gail giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Perhaps laughing when God was trying to be serious wasn't a good idea.

But God merely continued. "So, before I sent him away, I removed the Original powers from Castiel, so that when he returned, he would be no more powerful than any long-serving Angel. He needed to learn humility. But I must say, he took the lesson well."

Castiel had been feeling somewhat embarrassed by the reliving of this part of his existence. No one liked to be upbraided by their Father in front of one of their best friends and their girlfriend. Or: wife? He almost smiled. He'd definitely have to put a pin in that particular subject for later, when he and Gail had their alone time.

But his Father had also just paid him a compliment, and had advised that the vast majority of his special powers had been restored to him. He'd have to test them out soon.

"Regardless, I have decided to leave out the power of revival," God said to him. "I believe now that no one should have that power, perhaps not even me. The sanctity of life is paramount, and should be respected. If one has the power to bring life back, one tends to get cavalier about such things."

An interesting thought process, Bobby thought. He guessed he could see the point. But it seemed a little unfair that the bad guys have all this power, while Cas's had been removed.

God heard this, and said, "In the interests of evening things up, I removed that power from Lucifer while I was in Hell. I did not remove it from Crowley, of course, knowing he would need it." He smiled somewhat enigmatically. "And I haven't seen Metatron yet. When I was in Hell, he was most likely already here in Heaven, although I was not able to see him at the time. Which convinces me that he was indeed here, and I know exactly where." But He was getting ahead of Himself.

"But, more about that in a moment. I wanted to tell you, Gail, that I also gave you some Original powers through Bobby. You can call it a wedding present, if you wish."

Gail smiled, but she still wondered what that whole thing had been all about. Had God just been trying to get Xavier to shut up? But she'd better stay on topic; they could talk about that later.

"I have Original powers?" Gail said to Him. "What does that mean? What are they?"

"Castiel will give you instruction on that," God replied tersely. "I'm getting a little tired, and I want to finish what I came here to say."

"OK. Sorry," she said, chastened.

Then God smiled. "It's only natural that you should be curious. "I don't mean to be short with you, my Daughter. I confess I'm feeling righteous anger at some of my other children right now, and I may have taken it out on you."

Wow. It was one thing when Bobby had apologized to her, but this was pretty special. Thanks, my Father, she thought.

Castiel's heart swelled with pride. He looked forward to discovering which of his Original powers Gail now shared, and to teaching her how to use them. He considered her his equal partner in every way, but this had been an unexpected bonus. He would always be by her side to protect her, but their Father's surprise gift would go a long way towards helping her to protect herself, also.

"It seems there may have been a bit of a side effect when I mixed the Original powers with the gift of being human, though," God continued, a wry expression on his face. "I suppose I should have consulted a chemist first."

Cas and Gail were bemused, but they exchanged glances, then looked at Bobby. What was God talking about?

"Apparently, the both of you have retained some humanity," God told them. "That can be the only explanation for the feelings you have experienced since your return from Las Vegas."

Castiel was startled. His first impulse was denial, but then he thought about it. In recent years, he had been successful in modifying his personality, to the point where he was usually patient and mild. But he'd been so angry so often when they got back from Las Vegas. It wasn't as if he hadn't had reason, but he remembered holding his blade to both Jason's and Xavier's throats, a hair's breadth away from killing them. They had done terrible things to him and to Gail, there was no doubt, but when he had menaced Xavier at the board meeting, the tribunal had not yet even been proposed. He had been ready to kill Xavier over an insult. And he had even argued with Gail several times.

There was also the fairly recent reawakening of the human feelings and physical actions that he and Gail had shared in Las Vegas to think about. They had been affectionate towards each other as Angels once their relationship had begun to blossom, but once their Angel status had resumed after their trip, they had been out of necessity celibate once again. Did this mean that they did not have to be?

Gail was thinking about that, too. Truthfully, she didn't think she'd really noticed any difference in herself emotionally since they'd gotten back. Perhaps it was because she'd been a human up until fairly recently, and her emotions had always been close to the surface. But their recent brief encounters on a physical level had surprised her. They'd been planning to explore this further when they were alone next. Was God alluding to that? How embarrassed should she be feeling right now? And He could hear everything she was thinking; she knew that from experience. She'd better stop right now. Even though she'd recently felt gratitude to Crowley for obvious reasons, she didn't want to end up spending eternity in his company.

God smiled at her. "You needn't worry, Gail." He seldom called her by name, but this was a very personal subject, and God wanted to address her personally. "Your thoughts on that subject are your own, and they will be private from me. But I encourage you to share them with my Son as soon as possible."

As Gail wrestled with whether she should think about THAT now, Bobby abruptly changed the subject. He'd finally learned how to shut off others' thoughts, and as soon as he'd realized what Cas and Gail were thinking about, Bobby stemmed the tide. He felt love for his friends, but he sure as hell didn't want to think about them doing that. Good for them, but no one wanted to picture family members being intimate. On to new business.

"I still don't know what I'm going to do about the board," Bobby said to God.

"We'll come back to that in a minute," God said. "I'm nearly done. There's just one more thing. Well, a couple of things. First of all, and this is not to leave this room...the witness chair was just an ordinary chair. It has no special properties. Whatever was said in it was the truth, but it was each of your truths based on the way you were feeling at the time. And I encourage truth-telling at all times, even when it hurts." He smiled at them and they looked at each other, astonished. God continued, "Secondly, I wanted to congratulate you, Bobby. Good call on Chuck. I was wrong about him, and you were right."

Bobby was happy to receive God's praise, but he said, "I don't know how much credit I can take for that. Chuck pretty much reformed himself."

"It's true," Gail said. "He's been a wonderful friend to us."

"But I'm pretty sure I was dead wrong about Aurielle, though," Bobby said, frowning.

"Aurielle." God sat back in his chair and sighed. "Yes, it would appear so." He knew that she and Jason had fled Heaven, of course. And Aurielle had taken the spell book with her. For a brief moment, He had held out hope that she would not succumb to the temptation that the book provided, and to be fair, she had not used it yet. But God feared it was only a matter of time, and He did not like the fact that she and Jason had formed an alliance, uneasy though it may be.

"She and Jason have gone to Earth, and they need to be dealt with," God told them.

"Why can't you just deal with them, then?" Gail blurted out. Oh, crap, had she just said that? But to be honest, she would have thought it, anyway, and He would have heard.

"I am retired," God said coolly.

And they both had a point, Bobby thought. Bobby was God now, and he would have to step up to the plate.

"We'll talk about them later," Bobby said to Cas and Gail. "And Metatron, and..." he turned to God. "I also wanted to take a look at some of the laws on the books, maybe modernize some." He was thinking of the one about suicide, in particular.

"Do what you will, Bobby. Once you have elected a new board, you can feel free to revise whatever you like. Or draft a new set. I am an ancient being, and the code seemed appropriate at the time. But these are modern times, and Heaven needs some fresh ideas. I imagine I can leave things in the very capable hands of the three of you." God smiled, but He was feeling very tired now, and he needed to wind this up while He still had the energy to do what He intended to do.

"Everyone thinks they would love to have the power to be God, but they don't realize the responsibility involved," God said wearily. "I retired because I've done it long enough, but I brought my own personality into the position, and I am an imperfect being. My Sons can tell you that." He looked at Castiel, who smiled reflexively. He had the utmost respect for his Father, but it was true. God was not perfect, nor was anyone who had come after Him. His Father liked his jokes and He liked His games, and He played fast and loose with His childrens' lives as if they were pieces on a game board. But He also had compassion and empathy for those who deserved it, and a great capacity to love. When He smiled upon you with favour, you felt as though you could accomplish anything. Castiel had been walking the path that God had paved since Creation, and although he had often stumbled and occasionally strayed, he could honestly say that he was on the right track now. He took Gail's hand in both of his, smiling at her. And now he had someone to walk beside him, a partner who loved and understood him. Wherever the path led them from now on, they would go there together, making sure to appreciate the scenery on the way and stop to share a laugh whenever they could.

"Now you are God, Bobby, and you will inject your own personality into the position. Heaven will be the better for what you have undergone, as you understand the true meaning of compassion," God said to him.

"Xavier craved the power of the Office, but he never understood," God continued. "It's not about the power. It's about the individual. It's about having the power not to wield the power." He paused, smiling at the trio. "Does that make sense?" he quipped. "I'm getting very tired now."

They all traded glances. It actually made perfect sense to them.

God rose from the chair and came around from behind the desk. They stood, and He approached Gail first. She looked up at Him, not knowing what to say. He saved her the trouble. "Always be who you are, my Daughter," He said, touching her cheek. "I find no fault with you, or the way you conduct yourself." He turned to Bobby then, and Gail touched the spot on her cheek where her Father had touched her. His words and His touch had made her feel like she could do anything, be anything she chose. She took Castiel's hand and touched it to that spot on her face, and he smiled. He'd had his ups and downs with his Father, but all Castiel had ever wanted was His love and approval, and he could see the effect that receiving both was having on her. Now that was one more bond they shared.

God extended His hand to Bobby, and they shook. "Drop by anytime," Bobby said, his beard twitching.

"I probably won't," God said casually. "I'm leaving the place in very good hands." Bobby beamed.

"The job is yours now," God continued, "but you'll have to permit me this one last indulgence."

Bobby's brow furrowed as he waited for God to go on.

"You were wondering what to do about the board," God told him, "but I will lift that burden from you. Hold that thought."

Then God turned to Castiel. Gail let go of Cas's hand and stepped back so they could have their moment.

"You are finally the Angel that I always thought you'd become," God said to Castiel. "I'm proud of you, my Son." Then, in an incredible, wonderful instant, his Father took Castiel in his arms and enveloped him in a hug. Castiel put his arms around his Father and laid his head on his shoulder, feeling the tears prickle his eyes. "Don't be ashamed to cry, Cas," God said softly, using his Son's Earthly name. "And never be afraid to laugh. Convey my love to Sam and Dean, and keep a good part for yourself and Gail." Then He pulled gently out of the embrace and looked down at Castiel, smiling. "Though I suspect that there's plenty there already."

Castiel smiled back, but there was a lump in his throat a mile wide and the tears were now rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you, Father," he said in a tremulous voice. "I love you."

"Why, I love you too, Castiel," God said. "I always have, even when things may have appeared to the contrary. And I always will. But you don't need to tell me, you need to tell them. All of them. Never forget how important that is."

Castiel shook his head. He would never forget. Life was too precious and all too precarious, even for otherworldly beings; he had learned that lesson recently the hard way.

"And don't be too hard on your Brother," God said, smiling again. "He does have a redeeming quality or two. Believe it or not."

Castiel smiled in response, but he did not speak. He'd have to think about that. He respected his Father, but they did not necessarily have the same view when it came to Crowley.

"I trust that you'll do the right thing," God said to him. "Sometimes compassion is the way, but sometimes a blade can come in handy." He raised an eyebrow to his Son, and turned from him to look at Bobby.

"And so I come to the implementation of my last indulgence. I spoke about that a moment ago," God announced. "Bobby, I'm giving you one day off. You will not have to make any decisions for the next 24 hours. As of sunrise, until sunrise of the next day, Castiel will be God."

Silence.

"You will decide the fate of the board that stood against you, and you will have my full powers for one day. Do whatever you feel is right, with my full support," God said to Castiel, who was staring at Him, open-mouthed.

Bobby thought this was a great idea. He was frankly appreciative not to have to shoulder the responsibility of the decisions, and he felt it was appropriate for the one individual who had suffered the most at their hands to be the one who got to make the decisions.

Gail had mixed feelings. While she mostly agreed with Bobby, she was sure that Cas would struggle with the decisions. She wasn't sure what she would do with the board members if she were in Cas's position. She'd heard God's comment to him on compassion versus the blade. Which would he choose? And what else did he want to do? God for a day; to most people, the gift would be enviable. But Cas was Cas, and he was different from most. She smiled involuntarily. Tomorrow would certainly be interesting. And if he needed advice or support, Gail would be there for him. Could he zap them both and allow them to enjoy their morning coffee before he went off to work as God? Should she pack him a lunch?

God put his hand on Castiel's forehead and conveyed the power unto him with a flash of white light that was so bright that Bobby and Gail had to avert their eyes. Cas closed his eyes, feeling the power course through him, but it didn't feel like it had before. When he'd ingested all of those corrupted souls, it had felt cold and bracing, and had induced a feeling of megalomania inside of him. Now it just felt very warm and comforting, like a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. Or the feeling he got when Gail touched his face, or kissed him.

Then God stepped away, and Castiel opened his eyes in time to see his Father leaving the office. God waved his hand and the door that Bobby had blasted open was back in place, and it closed softly behind Him.

Castiel was dazed. Gail and Bobby were looking at him.

"So, what do we do until sunrise? Anybody know any card games?" Bobby said cheerfully, and Gail smiled.

END OF BOOK 5.


End file.
